EAS Dark Thunder Season One
by Gary Boshears
Summary: It's the Earth year 2264 on the five year adventure of the EAS Dark Thunder beings ... EAS Dark Thunder Season One: Soul of Fire, Mind of Death


OVERTURE  
  
EAS Dark Thunder, Omega-X Class Destroyer  
  
Executive Officer's Quarters  
  
January 23rd, 2264 0034 EST  
  
Commander Edward MacDonald was no stranger to long nights. Having served both on the front lines and behind the lines in the Minbari War, the Civil War and Earth's limited actions during the conflict between the Interstellar Alliance and the Centauri Republic, he had experienced more than his fair share of long nights. He preferred however that they be occupied with something more exciting than organizing the crew roster and going over training evaluations which department heads had submitted on the new crew members.  
  
As much as he may have genuinely wanted to stop for the night, he was determined to have the condenses versions of all of these reports on the Captain's desk by the time he reached his office in the morning, a full day earlier than the deadline that the Captain had given him. And when he became determined to carry something out, it was very rare for anything to prevent him from carrying it out.  
  
There were however, the unexpected interruptions. As he signed his name to another sheet of paper, he heard a low pitched beep from his computer console. He turned his head to look at the monitor which displayed two words in text, 'INCOMING MESSAGE'.  
  
MacDonald set his work aside for the moment and turned to give his full attention to the monitor. "Computer," he said softly, his voice filling with intrigue. It was not often that messages came to him at this time of night. If it was Earthforce HQ needing to contact the Dark Thunder, they would have gone through the bridge or immediately to the Captain, not to him. "Identify source of incoming message."  
  
The computer's monotone voice replied almost instantly after he had given the command. "Source of incoming message unknown." MacDonald did not like at all the direction that this was going, he did not like it at all. "Computer, run tracer program," he ordered as he pulled himself out of the somewhat relaxed state he had been in while working on his paperwork, something that was seeming more and more appealing at the moment.  
  
"Unable to trace," the computer replied.  
  
{{Hell}} was all the went through MacDonald's mind that moment. He had received several messages in this fashion over the past year. The last was over three months ago and he did not miss them in the least, as they were generally the bringers of bad news.  
  
With that, the Commander decided that he might as well get this over with as soon as possible. "Computer, receive transmission, authorization MacDonald gamma omega two three one one two." The text on the screen was replaced by a black silhouette against an eerie blue-gray background.  
  
"Hello Commander," the silhouette, or at least what MacDonald assumed was the silhouette said. His voice was disturbingly calm and deep, something which MacDonald had always wondered about giving the news that this individual usually brought to him.  
  
MacDonald raised his eyebrow. "You know," the Commander began, an annoyed and sarcastic tone to his vibrant voice. "Perhaps, since you seem to know everything about me, you could at least give me a name to greet you with."  
  
He laughed, obviously taking some degree of amusement in the frustration that MacDonald was exhibitting. "Now, now Commander. We've been over this before. It is vital ... to all involved that my identity remain a secret."  
  
MacDonald sighed, growing more annoyed with this person by the second. He had all but had it with the silly games that he seemed to play with him. "Maybe I'm just tired of all of this damned secrecy!" MacDonald exclaimed as he exploded out of his chair. After his minor outburst, MacDonald could think of nothing to say, he simply stood with his back towards the monitor.  
  
The silhouette looked down for a moment and then back to MacDonald. "I would contact you later Commander but unfortunately time will not allow it." He paused until the Commander had turned back around, making sure that he had his attention. "The Dark Thunder is about to have a new resident Commander, a resident whose loyalties may not stand where the loyalties of you, your Captain and your crew stand."  
  
The harbringer of bad news had returned. MacDonald sat back down at the desk, now strangely calm for the first time since this receiving this transmisison and anxious to learn exactly what he had meant by what he said.  
  
New York City, Earth  
  
Psi Corps Field Office  
  
January 23rd, 2264 0600 EST  
  
Officer Mara Kirshak stepped into the door of the Psi Corps Field Office *exactly* two hours before she was normally expected to report for duty. This day however, was far from a normal day. Late last night she had received a communique from her superior at the field office, informing her that a 'big name' in the Psi Corps would be in her office at 0615 the next morning to speak with her.  
  
Not knowing whether she was going to be receiving praise, ridicule or neither, she had made sure that she was at her best this morning. Her black uniform, that of a Psi Cop, was freshly cleaned and pressed. Her boots and gloves shined, showing off a fresh cleaning and polish. Most importantly, her Psi Corps badge shined as bright as the stars which were still visible in the sky.  
  
The morning air was still cold and Mara was more than pleased to get out of it and into the warm lobby of the field office. She took off her overcoat and placed if over one arm. As she walked past the security desk, she flashed her ID as she did every morning. It was not neccessary of course as all of the guards in the building new her but, she preferred to follow procedure as best she possibly could.  
  
The lift ride the eleventh floor of the building, where her office was, lasted less than a minute. Having ridden it nearly everday for the past four years, she knew exactly how long the ride took. From the exit of the lift, it was less than a hundred yards to walk to her office.  
  
As she rounded the corner in the hallway, she checked the time and was relieved to see that she still had more than ten minutes to spare before the meeting was set to take place. She allowed herself a brief moment of relaxation as she removed the heavy overcoat she was wearing.  
  
She gently and calmly slid her key card into the slot and walked casually through the door, experiencing a moment of sheer panic when she saw a man in a Psi Cop's uniform sitting in one of the chairs across from her desk, his back turned to her. At that moment, she wanted to pull out her sidearm and shoot herself right there. Having always prided herself on her promptness, she could not believe she was late for a meeting which could impact her career.  
  
"No need to panic Ms. Kirshak," when she heard the voice, Mara knew instantly who it was. Aside from his fame within the Corps itself, this was one of their few agents who had found himself on ISN at least a couple of times.  
  
Bester turned around in the chair to face the door and the stunned and somewhat frightened Mara Kirshak. "After all, I am early for our meeting," he took another long sip from the mug he was holding in one of his hands as he stood to greet her. "Alfred Bester," he said graciously. "A pleasure to meet you Ms. Kirshak."  
  
Mara was at a complete loss for words. "L...likewise sir," she said, recovering quickly from her opening stutter. Of all the people who it could have been, she was still having trouble believing that the legendary Alfred Bester was standing in her office, having come to meet with her. "Umm..." she stuttered again, not finding the appropriate words or having any idea where to look for them. "Please," she gestured to the chair he had been sitting in. "Have a seat."  
  
Bester smiled in slight amusement at her attitude towards him. He could understand that she may have been a little bit surprised but he failed to understand why she expressed such shock at meeting him. "Thank you," he replied, slowly sitting back down.  
  
Pausing only to hang her overcoat on a nearby hanger, Mara quickly went to her chair on the other side of the desk, anxious to get this meeting started if not a bit nervous as to what it might be about. "So ... Mr. Bester," she began, still not feeling as if she was saying the right things. "What can I do for you?"  
  
Bester took a deep breath, indicating to Mara that he was either prepared to deliver bad news or to make a long-winded speech, or possibly both. "Officer Kirshak, I've been following your career the past few months." Here it came, she held her breath. "I must say, that I have been most impressed." She tried to keep him from noticing the sigh of relief that she breathed. "Your work," the Psi Cop continued. "Has contributed greatly to tracking down blips and other rouge telepaths. I can see in you a strong sense of duty and of loyalty. You go above and beyond what is expected of you in the performance of your job. Your skills as both an investigator, law enforcement officer and as a telepath are also impressive."  
  
"Thank you sir," Mara said, feeling as if she was going to blush. "I just try to do my job the best I can," she felt that if this meeting would have resulted in anything positive, that she had already succeeded in preventing that by her poor word choice since the moment she walked in the door.  
  
"Nonsense!" Bester exclaimed. "I recognize talent when I see it." Bester suddenly shifted gears. "You must know, Officer Kirshak that, there is trouble on the horizon. The threat of renegade telepaths being aided by militant, anti-telepath norms is growing very real and very dangerous. I feel that it will not be long before these small yet dangerous groups are in a position to threaten not only us directly but all of the Earth Alliance."  
  
Mara nodded. It was true. the number of violent activities by rouge telepaths along with the amount of violence against telepaths, the Psi Corps in particular, by normals had been on a steady and alarming climb the past few months. "Yes sir, I'm forced to agree. Everyday that I work, whether it's reading reports here or out in the field, I see what you are talking about," her voice was somber but it was the unfortunate truth of the situation.  
  
"Then, you understand that we must stand unified against this threat! That we are the front line of defense for Earth." Bester stood. "Due to this growing danger, the Earth Alliance Senate quietly passed a proclamation last night. It states that Psi Corps shall have the power to station it's members on Earthforce vessels as partial members of the crew. For we all know that if the rouges and their supporters infiltrate Earthforce greater than they already have, we may be doomed." He paused slightly. Mara was indeed interested, even fascinated but she was still uncertain as to what all of this had to do with her. "As of zero thirty hours this morning, Earth Standard Time, I was placed in charge of this project. I have plans initially to dispatch telepaths to thirty-five destroyers and cruisers in the fleet and you," he said, pointing at her. "Will be the first."  
  
Mara shook her head. Even she knew that there were Psi Cops with years more experience than her. Dozens who would be better choices for the job. "Sir ... I ... I'm honored but, why me?"  
  
Bester smiled. "For the reasons I just stated but, most importantly, because I sense that your loyalties are firmly set where they need to be." The Psi Cop paused for a moment. While he was quite sure that she had her loyalties in the right place, one simple test would do no harm. "Tell me Officer, where do your loyalties lie?"  
  
Her response was quick and without and hint of hesitation or even consideration. "To the Psi Corps and to Earth. In the same place they have stood since I first joined the Corps." For the first time, Mara felt that she had chosen the right words to express what she was thinking.  
  
"Excellent," Bester slowly reached into the pocket on his jacket, the grin on his face having grown slightly upon hearing, and pulled out a data crystal. He handed it to her and then put his hands behind his back. "These are the exact details on your mission. You leave later today on a shuttle which will take you to one of our Motherships. You will leave from it onboard one of our new Black Omega SA-26X fighters for your new assignment. All other details such as when and how you will report in are covered omn the crystal. Remember, that while you are not part of Earthforce, you are still under the command of the Captain of the vessel, even though your duties to the vessel come second to your duties to Psi Corps."  
  
"I understand," Mara's voice displayed a degree of hesitation. This was wonderful for her but it was something that had never been done before and many people often had a grim view of things which had never been done before. Not to mention the less than receptive attitude the Earthforce Captains was likely to have of the idea. "Sir," Mara spoke up, essentially catching Bester on his way out the door. "If I may ask, what ship is it that I'm being assigned to?"  
  
Bester turned back slowly with an even larger grin on his face. "The destroyer, EAS Dark Thunder."  
  
{Cue Dramatic Music}  
  
GREG GIOVONI: The Interstellar Alliance united the galaxy in peace.  
  
{Establishing shot, the sun rising over Earth}  
  
CONNOR MACKENZIE: But what is peace?  
  
{Earth Force and Interstellar Alliance ships battling renegade Earth ships}  
  
NATHAN MEADE: How can one define peace?  
  
{The Dark Thunder firing on a renegade ship approaching Earth}  
  
LESLIE GRIFFON: Is peace the absence of conflict?  
  
{Shot of the Dark Thunder orbiting Earth}  
  
EDWARD MACDONALD: Or is it something greater?  
  
{Shot of a figure in a Psi Corps uniform watching Barns testify before the  
  
Senate Committee}  
  
MARA KIRSHAK: Someone once said that the only true peace is the peace that we can have in  
  
our own minds.  
  
{Dark Thunder and fighters battling Black Omega fighters}  
  
JERRY BARNS: In the Earth year 2264, a battle began against those who wished to take that  
  
away from us.  
  
{The Dark Thunder preparing to go into hyperspace}  
  
EDWARD MACDONALD: The year is 2264.  
  
LESLIE GRIFFON: The ship.  
  
JERRY BARNS: EAS Dark Thunder.  
  
{The Dark Thunder shoots into hyperspace}  
  
STARRING:  
  
Liam Neeson as Captain Jerry Barns  
  
Robert Patrick as Commander Edward MacDonald  
  
Jennifer Aniston as Lieutenant Commander Leslie Griffon  
  
Tom Wilson as Commander Nathan Meade  
  
Elizabeth Barones as Commander Julia Rourke  
  
ALSO STARRING:  
  
Robert Duncan McNiel as Lieutenant Connor MacKenzie  
  
Traci Lords as Officer Mara Kirshak  
  
Simon Billig as Ranger Greg Giovoni  
  
Jeremy Roberts as Colonel Zachary Storm  
  
Francois Chau as Chief Tech Russell Chang  
  
Neill Barry as 2nd Lieutenant Bryce Connell  
  
Chris Mulkey as Commander John Hawks  
  
AND  
  
Ginger Lynn Allen as Doctor Meloria Delementrio  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
EAS DARK THUNDER  
  
SEASON ONE: SOUL OF FIRE, MIND OF DEATH  
  
EPISODE ONE: TWILIGHT'S EMBER  
  
GUEST STARRING:  
  
Peter Jason as Commander Jacob Sykes  
  
Casey Biggs as Major Timothy Robinson  
  
Courtney Gains as Mike Rollins  
  
Donna Murphy as General Lillian McDouglass  
  
Special Appearances by:  
  
Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar  
  
Patricia Tallman as Lyta Alexander  
  
AND  
  
Walter Koenig as Bester  
  
ACT ONE  
  
EAS Dark Thunder, Omega-X Class Destroyer  
  
Lift Eighteen  
  
January 23rd, 2264 1024 EST  
  
Captain Jerry Barns had been purposefully keeping a low profile today. It had been relatively quiet the last few days and the Captain was trying to get away with not putting in too many hours of work today. It was off to a good start as this was the first day he had been able to actually sleep late in well over four months. He had then taken time to enjoy a cup off coffee in his quarters while he watched the mid-morning news on the ISN feed.  
  
Having just minutes ago finally squeezed into his uniform, he was now trying to make his way undetected to the Captain's Dining Hall, one of the small additions made to the Dark Thunder that is not present on a standard Omega destroyer, to have a late meal before he went to his office to catch up on whatever paper work may have piled up on his desk throughout the night and morning.  
  
The door to the dining room slid open but it seemed that fate did not wish for his quiet day to continue. Before the Captain had his foot in the door, he heard the voice of his Executive Officer with a decidedly troubled tone to it. "Captain, I need to speak with you," he said, his voice significantly softer than normal, as if he didn't want others to hear. "It's urgent."  
  
Barns recognized the significance of his XO referring to something as urgent. While it was not always the case, when MacDonald called something urgent, it generally meant that he had vital information about something that would threaten either the ship, the crew, Earth or all of the above. Without saying anything in response, the Captain simply gestured to the still open door of the dining room and stepped inside.  
  
MacDonald and Barns both wasted little time in taking seats at the table. MacDonald was unmistakably concerned as he set the folder he was carrying down. "Sir," the XO began. "We have a *big* problem."  
  
Barns nodded. "I had already guessed that Commander," he said, maintaining his calm and cool composure. "So why don't we skip straight to what the problem is."  
  
MacDonald had no intention of wasting any time in getting to the point that he needed to reach. "Yes sir," he said as he pulled out a copy of the summarzied report he had written on the situation and handed it to the Captain. It contained little more than what he would tell him but, he had still felt the need to put it in writing just so the Captain would be privy to every bit of information. "Early this morning I received an anonymous transmission from one of my sources," Barns instantly waved his hand to cut the Commander off.  
  
MacDonald had many sources, only some of which preferred to remain anonymous. Barns was simply hoping that it was not a *particular* one of his sources. A source of his that seemed to be a harbringer of bad news for the Dark Thunder. "Just tell me it's not *the* anonymous source."  
  
The Commander nodded slowly. "One and the same sir," he said with a slight discouraged sigh.  
  
"Damn," Barns said, suddenly becoming discouraged as well. "So, which of the horsemen will we be encountering this time?" The Captain asked, trying unsuccessfully to bring a small bit of light to this situation.  
  
MacDonald continued. "At 0630 this morning, a Psi Cop left Earth to rendezvous with one of their mother ships. Afterwards, they'll be taking a fighter and coming onboard the Dark Thunder."  
  
Barns shook his head. It was rare for Psi Cops to visit Earthforce destroyers. Even more rare for one to come to his ship. While not having anything against telepaths, the Captain of the EAS Dark Thunder never cared much for the Psi Cops. "Well, what are they coming here for and, more importantly, how long are they staying?"  
  
"Sir," MacDonald hesitated, unsure of how to break this news to the Captain without him errupting in a fury like none had ever seen before. "Sir, the Psi Cop is, at least if my source is right, joining the crew." At that moment, he was sure that he could literally see the Captain turning red.  
  
"Get me Earthforce HQ," he ordered, his voice having filled with anger. "I'll put a stop to this right now!" He exclaimed as he bolted out of his chair and began stomping to the door.  
  
"Captain!" MacDonald had to raise his voice to get Barns' full attention. "Sir, it's too late." He stood and handed the Captain another sheet of paper. "We received orders from HQ three hours ago to alter course to a set of coordinates in hyperspace, probably a rendezvous point. At any rate," MacDonald continued. "We're approaching that location now."  
  
Barns snatched the paper away from MacDonald, it clearly did indicate orders for a course change. "How come I wasn't informed of this?" The Captain demanded, growing more and more angry with every passing second.  
  
"Sir," MacDonald said hesitantly. "By standard EF policy, it's not neccessary to inform you about all routine course changes ordered by command. And..." he hesitated again.  
  
"And what Commander?"  
  
"And ... you were asleep sir," MacDonald added, almost embarassed to do so.  
  
Barns stared down his XO. He realized that it was not the fault of his old friend and his old friend realized that the Captain was simply in a bad mood. He could easily relate. "I am *never* that asleep Commander." The Captain stepped out of the door to hear his link chime. He toggled it. "Barns go!"  
  
"Sir," the ever calm and soft voice of Lieutenant Commander Leslie Griffon replied. "We're picking up a fighter on approach. SA-26X Black Thunder class. They're coming in fast, so far no ID signal on it."  
  
"Very well," Barns said as he toggled his link off. The initial outburst of anger he had at the news had now subsided but it was still burning inside of him. "Commander, get General McDouglass at HQ on standby." He paused for a moment, considering their options. "Find Commander Hawks, have him put together a small but well-armed security force. You, myself, Hawks and the team will meet the Psi Cop when he arrives. I'll be on the bridge if you need me," the Captain concluded as he walked towards the nearest lift.  
  
MacDonald wasted no time in thought or contemplation about this predicament which they were about to find themselves involved in. He simply raised his hand to his face and toggled his link. "MacDonald to Hawks."  
  
"Hawks here sir," the reply was as punctual as it always was from his old friend Commander John Hawks. They had served off and on together since they're first Covert Operations assignment together during the Minbari War. In the early part of the year before, when MacDonald had successfully petitioned Barns to allow him to create a small covert ops team for the Dark Thunder, Hawks was a natural choice to be it's second in command, natural choice to MacDonald at least.  
  
"John," MacDonald said, regaining some determination and spirit in his voice. "Meet me in Security in ten minutes," MacDonald began to toggle his link off when Hawks replied.  
  
"Right away sir, something up?"  
  
The XO considered the best way to answer that question. There were obviously many things that he could say but, "Yes," would suffice for the moment. Toggling his link off, MacDonald bolted down the corridor.  
  
Proxima 3 Colony  
  
Central City  
  
January 23rd, 2264 1035 EST  
  
Lieutenant Judith Simon was rather enjoying her day off and her stroll through one of the many market places in the main city on Proxima 3. She had been walking for a little less than an hour without purchasing anything. In actuallity, she found more enjoyment in looking at the large variety of assorted items than she did in actually purchasing them.  
  
There were always exceptions however. Such was the case when she came across a stand being run by a fairly young man, probably no older than thirty. He sat behind a large table which, what would best be described as junk from various alien worlds. Still, she found it interesting. She had been in Earth Force for five years now and hadn't travelled beyond Earth or Proxima 3. The only members of other species she had ever encountered would be the ones who she would meet on Proxima 3, usually in the market places like these.  
  
She glanced over the assembled items and picked out one that caught her eye more than the others. It was a shape that she couldn't identify, made of a material she couldn't indentify. When she ran her fingers over it, it felt both like silk and crystal at the same time. Various vibrant shades of blue, green, red and purple ran and interweved all the way across it. Quite beautiful in her opinion.  
  
"It's from Minbar," the merchant who ran the stand finally spoke up. He slowly rose from his chair and walked closer to Lieutenant Simon. "I think it's some sort of religious symbol or something," he said, gesturing to the object she was holding in her hand.  
  
Simon studied it further. The Minbari were a people that she had always wished she could get to know and learn more about. Sadly being stationed to the small Earthforce outpost on Proxima 3 did not allow her many opportunities to do so. "You're not sure what it is?" She said, raising an eyebrow to the merchant.  
  
"Nah, not really," he said, shaking his head. "Buddy of mine picked it up on Minbar last year during one of their religious festival things. They've got so many of them, I can't really remember which one."  
  
She nodded with a slight smile. It could have been a fake but she found it interesting regardless. "How much?" She asked politely, reaching for the credit chip in her pocket.  
  
The merchant developed a rather large grin on his face. "Twelve," he answered quickly. Before she could respond however, he had something else to say. "But for you I'll make it ten."  
  
Simon was no stranger to how these merchants operated. The fact that he offerred to reduce the price to ten simply meant that the price actually was ten and he was trying to make it look like he was offerring a good deal so as to increase his chances of a sale. She pretended to not realize it though and handed him her credit chip with a smile. He quickly swiped it, put the item in a bag and handed both back to her.  
  
"You know," he said as she began to walk off. "With the Alliance and everything, it's pretty easy for humans to go to Minbar as tourists. You oughta go sometime. My pal who went there said it's a pretty awesome sight."  
  
She sighed and shook her head, maintaining a smile. "Who has time?" She responded. Of course she would love to one day but the reality of having to pay for it along with finding the leave time needed was too great for her to handle, at the moment at least.  
  
"Well, you never know. Might want to do it while you can, while there's still time," the merchant said in a certain way that made Simon feel uneasy. It was not that he was being belligerent or rude by any means, there was just something in his eyes.  
  
She quickly gathered the bag her purchase was in and left the stand a somewhat quick walk, muttering a very simple thank you as she left. Even though she looked back and saw that the merchant had gone to assisting another customer, the feeling did not leave her. She also got the feeling that she was being followed. She spead up, virtually pushing her way through the crowd in the market place. Though she still saw no one behind her, she still *knew* she was being followed.  
  
Parts of her Earthforce training kicking in, she ducked into a small alleyway. Suddenly the feeling left her. She took a moment to catch her breath and looked around well, making sure that there was nothing suspicious in the market place.  
  
"Young lady," the voice from the back of the alley caught her by surprise. She turned to see nothing but darkness. "Do you have any spare change you could spare for a tired and hungry old man?"  
  
The uneasy feeling suddenly leaving her, she turned fully around and looked in the direction the voice was coming from, still seeing nothing but darkness. "I suppose, a little bit," she was still being cautious, aware that this could be some kind of a setup. "Why don't you come out here so I can give it to you?"  
  
There was a slight moment of silence. Lieutenant Simon was close to leaving when she saw two large men in very nice suits step into the alley, blocking her exit. They both drew PPGs but did not take aim at her. In the next split second of silence, she cursed herself for not carrying her own Earthforce issue PPG when she was off duty like Commander Sykes had told her to do so many times.  
  
"I'm afraid," the voice from the darkness continued. "That you will be stepping back here. Please, Lieutenant Morgan, do not make this painful, for either of us."  
  
As she stepped into the darkness, she suddenly felt a massive pressure on the inside of her head, as if her brain were about to explode. Yet, it was not what she would call pain. She did not know how to define it. She breathed heavily, in total fear and disbelief of what was happening. Then, there was no more pressure, no pain. In fact, she felt nothing. There was nothing but blackness.  
  
The figure stepped out of the darkness and glanced to the other two men who were still holding station at the entrance to the alley. "Do as usual," he ordered to them and stepped between them. "I must rest now." He said nothing else and did not wait for any response from his colleagues. They knew their job and they knew not to question him. He disappeared into the crowd as they carried out their duties.  
  
Black Omeaga 1, SA-26X Black Thunder Fighter  
  
Hyperspace, Eight Minutes to Rendezvous Point  
  
January 23rd, 2264 1039 EST  
  
Officer Mara Kirshakhad taken the fighter off auto-pilot for these last few minutes of the trip to the EAS Dark Thunder. She had to admit, she was most impressed with how intuitive these 'Shadow Thunderbolts' were. It was a shame that there were only a handful of them available to Earthforce, especially after the political pressure which was brought on Earth by other Alliance worlds for using Shadow materials in the construction of starships.  
  
Fortunately, the Corps did not suffer from such constraints. Their allies would make certain of that. While there were some in the Corps who felt it unwise to keep such resources secret, Mara was not one of them. She did not know the full extent of the resources the Corps had available, but she knew they were neccessary. In the coming conflict, when the rouge telepaths and the telepath hating normals would try to seize power, the Psi Corps would be the first line of defense and they needed as many resources as possible. This, above many things, she knew for certain.  
  
"The Corps is Mother, the Corps if Father," she softly whispered. To someone who grew up with no family, such as herself, that statement held more truth than it could ever with any others. She had no family from the time when she was seven years old, no family besides the Corps. They protected her, gave her a new life, a life better than the slums of old, run down part of Chicago.  
  
She toggled on the auto-pilot back on, took her bare hand off of the flight stick and pulled her glove back on. As strange as it sounded even to her, when she touched the ship, without a glove, she thought she could hear it speaking to her. As she fought to clear the image from her mind, she realized that whatever the ship was saying, it scared her.  
  
A sensor alert sounded from the main display, indicating that they were approaching the rendezvous point and detecting to the Dark Thunder. She regained her composure and brought herself into a very business like demeanor. "EAS Dark Thunder, this is Black Omega One, on approach under orders from Earth Force HQ, request landing clearance," she sent the transmission in her most proffessional tone and waited for a response.  
  
EAS Dark Thunder  
  
Bridge  
  
1046 EST  
  
Lieutenant Commander Leslie Griffon stared at the approaching ship on her sensor screen. She, like the Captain, the XO and probably a significant portion of the crew, was not happy about this. Everyone remembered what happened last December, when they engaged and desteoyed a flight of Black Omega fighters, just like the one on approach, that had come to destroy the Dark Thunder. The Psi Corps of course acted quickly in covering it up, saying that it was a group of rouge telepaths. That the Psi Corps was a friend of Earthforce and would never try anything along the lines of destroying an Earthforce vessel.  
  
Griffon heard the request for clearance. She was surprised that it was a woman's and a apparently a fairly young woman's voice. She glanced at the control to open up a communication's channel. As she did, she locked her eyes onto the weapon's controls. All it would take was one shot from the ship's light laser cannons. However, she shook that thought from her mind. Now was not the time, the Captain had told her that and if there was one person she trusted anymore, it was him.  
  
Opening up the communcation's channel to the approaching fighter, Griffon tried to come off as calm and friendly, not that it would be likely to fool a Psi Cop. "This is Lieutenant Commander Leslie Griffon of the EAS Dark Thunder. You are cleared for landing. The Captain and XO are waiting for you in the landing bay."  
  
The voice on the other side of the channel remained as cool and as business like as it had been in it's first transmission. "Thank you Commander Griffon. Black Omega One is initiating final approach."  
  
Griffon's first instinct was to switch the comm. system off but she decided to give an illusion of courtesy. "Dark Thunder acknowledges Black Omega One, welcome aboard." Mere seconds later, the fighter with the hull of that of a Shadow vessel docked with the destroyer of the same, the dim red glow of hyperspace reflecting off of their liquidy black hulls.  
  
Landing Bay  
  
1049 EST  
  
Barns, MacDonald, Hawks and the six man security team had assembled in the landing bay. The security team was of course out of sight, split up into two three men teams and hiding in various well-placed shooting positions throughout the landing bay. The three officers were however far from defense-less. Each wore their standard side-arms on their sides, MacDonald and Hawks both carried backup weapons strapped to the lower part of their legs, concealed underneath their uniform pants legs.  
  
The fighter must have landed by now. He was beginning to wonder where this Psi Cop was when, on cue, *she* came walking in from the landing area. Barns had been expecting a man and he could tell that MacDonald and Hawks were equally surprised at seeing the beautiful young woman in the uniform of a Psi Cop come walking in.  
  
Officer Kirshak walked straight to Barns and handed him a data crystal. "Captain Barns," she said as he took the crystal from her hand. "Officer Mara Kirshak, Psi Corps rating P12, reporting under orders from Earthforce HQ."  
  
Barns stared at the young woman for a moment, trying to disrupt that unwavering professional demeanor which she was displaying. After a minute or two, he lightly touched her long red air which was flowing over her shoulders. "That's not exactly Earthforce regulation is it Officer?" He said, referring obviously to how she wore her hair. Of course, most Captains and even himself would have let it pass but he was not in one of those moods.  
  
Kirshak remained in her proffesional demeanor, displaying only a small bit of annoyance with the Captain who she first judged to be a rather arrogant and somewhat rude man. "As you may have noticed Captain, I am not a member of Earth Force," she paused and looked around the landing bay, a suspicious and slightly concerned look in her eye. "And as you will also notice, I have not been sent by Bester to kill you, so would you kindly mind calling off your sharp shooters?" Barns locked eyes with her. At this point, MacDonald and Hawks did not dare step in, though Hawks did begin reaching ever so slightly for his sidearm.  
  
Barns gazed deep into her eyes and she returned the favor. "And tell me Officer Kirshak," the Captain said, a decidedly hostile tone to his voice. "How I know that you have not been sent to kill me?"  
  
"Because, *sir*," she replied, a hint of emotion creeping into the formerly stone cold Psi Cop voice of hers. "If I had come onboard this ship with the intention of killing you, you would be dead by now. I've come here with orders, orders issued from your superiors as well as mine, orders which I intend to follow!"  
  
Barns backed down slightly. She had won that round and, while he was not one who easily admiited defeat, this was a situation where he could not help but do so. He turned his head in Hawks' direction and gave him an ever so slight gesture with his eyes. The Commander stepped back a couple of steps, turned his head and toggled his link on. "Hawks to team, stand down."  
  
"Well, Ms. Kirshak," the Captain said, his tone returning to it's usual. "I suspect that you're tired after the trip from Earth. Commander MacDonald will show you to your quarters," he said gesturing to his XO, who looked back at him with a slightly less than pleased look in his eye. "Once you're settled in, report to my office. Afterwards, there's some procedure for checking onboard a starship but it's all pretty routine."  
  
"Thank you Captain," Kirshak replied with a raised eyebrow and a nod. She and MacDonald began walking out of the room, both at a relatively fast pace when the Captain stopped them.  
  
"Officer Kirshak, welcome onboard the Dark Thunder." She nodded again and continued on her way out of the room.  
  
Once MacDonald and Kirshak were clear, Barns stepped closer to Hawks who had his eyes fixed on the door, he had likely kept eye contact with her the whole time. "First impressions?" The Captain asked Hawks softly.  
  
The Covert Operations veteran seemed to be in a partial state of disbelief and a partial state of concern. While Barns did not know Hawks as well as MacDonald or some of the other crew members did, he could safely say that he had never seen the man this unnerved before. "Aside from the fact that she's beautiful," Hawks replied with a slight grin in the Captain's direction. "I'll let you know."  
  
"Hmmm..." Barns considered the situation, considered the young woman who had just come aboard his ship and what her presence might mean, provided of course that he could not get rid of her in the *very* near future. "Dismissed," the Captain said to Hawks. The Commander said nothing, only left the landing bay with the security officers following him.  
  
Barns toggled his link on. He was going to waste no time in trying to get this Psi Cop off of his ship. "Barns to Griffon."  
  
"Go ahead sir."  
  
"Transfer General McDouglass to my office as soon as I arrive there," he toggled the link and took off at a fast walk towards the nearest lift to the command deck.  
  
Captain's Office  
  
1102 EST  
  
"Jerry try to calm down," the image of General McDouglass said to the now once again enraged Captain. She had seen the Captain like this many times in the many years that they had known each other. Generally she was able to talk him down but she could tell that this time it would be difficult.  
  
"Try to calm down. Try to calm down!" Barns repeated as he paced around his office, rarely making eye contact with the woman on the communication's monitor. "You tell me that you won't reverse the order stationing this Psi Cop on my ship and you expect me to calm down!"  
  
"Captain," she began in a frustrated tone of voice. "I've explained this to you, it's not that I won't do anything, it's that I can't do anything. The Senate approved it and placed it in the Psi Corps' control. We are *required* by the Senate proclamation to issue the orders once Psi Corps recommends them to us. We have no say in this Jerry, try to understand that."  
  
"So you're telling me," the Captain rebutted, his anger still fuming. "That there is a Psi Cop stationed on my vessel, free to do whatever she wants, whenever she wants, outside the chain of command?"  
  
"Not *exactly* Jerry," the General answered, her voice calming slightly. "She is a member of your crew and hence under your command. She merely isn't bound by Earthforce regulations and ultimately she reports to the Psi Corps." Barns sat down on his desk. Though he was trying to act as if he wasn't still agitated, the General could easily see that he still was. "Jerry, you know I would do something if I could, I don't like this anymore than you do. It's just something that we're going to have to learn to live with. You never know, Officer Kirshak may become a vital member of your crew. And I have a feeling she will be beneficial in the mission I have for you."  
  
Barns breathed deeply and managed to calm himself slightly. Being faced with the cold fact that there was absolutely *nothing* that could be done about Officer Kirshak's pressence actually made him feel slightly better about the situation. It took his mind off trying to find a way to get rid of her and onto finding a way to deal with her. "And this mission being?" He asked, turning to face the monitor.  
  
General McDouglass glanced off the screen for a moment, likely looking at a computer monitor or another form of information. "Over the past several weeks," the General began the briefing her steady composure unwavering. "There's been several murders of Earthforce officers and personell on Proxima 3. The local authorities are totally in the dark about everything from a motive to a common link between the victims to a cause of death. I want you to take the Dark Thunder in and investigate."  
  
Barns was baffled. There was obviously reason to send in a team from the outside to investigate but, why send the Dark Thunder? Why send a destroyer, one of the fleet flagships to investigate a handful of mysterious murders. Then again, Barns never claimed to understand how HQ thought, nor did he particularly want to. "General, why me?" Still, he had to ask. "Why the Dark Thunder, it seems like a bit of overkill to me."  
  
McDouglass' response was not fast nor did it seem like an answer that she came up with off the top of her head. "Let's just say, I have a feeling that there's more going on on Proxima than meets the eye. I want you there Jerry." Of course, he never claimed to understand how that woman thought either, as much as he had tried to at times.  
  
"Very well," he said with a sigh concession. "We'll be under way shortly."  
  
She nodded to him. "Good luck Captain, McDouglass out." Her image was replaced with that of the blue and gold Earthforce emblem with the text of 'TRANSMISSION ENDED' printed across of it.  
  
The Captain sat down at his desk and took a moment to regain his composure. He recognized that he shouldn't have made such an outburst at the General but he couldn't help but feel a degree of anger and an even greater degree of helplessness at this situation. It was no secret to him that a war was coming between telepaths and normals. Up until now, he thought all of his crew would be on one side during that war. And now, the enemy had a spy on his ship.  
  
"Sir," Griffon's voice came through the comm. system in his office. "Officer Kirshak is hear to speak with you."  
  
Barns stood to greet her and ordered Griffon to let her in. The Psi Cop strolled into his office in what he would have almost called a perfect military step, her hands behind her back, her hair still worn down over her shoulders, displaying the signs of having been recently brushed. "Have a seat Officer Kirshak," he said, gesturing to one of the chairs on the other side of his desk as he himself sat back down.  
  
"Thank you sir," she sat down and looked across at him, obviously waiting for him to make the first move in this meeting.  
  
"I've been reviewing your orders. As I understand, you function as part of the crew under my command. You ultimately report to Psi Corps however," the Captain said as he glanced at the open document containing this very orders on his computer monitor.  
  
"That is correct sir," she said with a courteous tone to her voice. This meeting was at least starting out in a bit more civil fashion than there first did.  
  
Barns nodded and glared across the table at her. "Tell me, Officer Kirshak, where do your loyalties lie?" He would have to ask her that question at some point or another, might as well do it now and have it done with.  
  
She raised an eyebrow at him, obviously not understanding the point of the question. "To Earth sir. Isn't that where all of our loyalties lie?" While she was not being entirely truthful with him, she decided it better to tell him the part of the truth that he had wanted to hear.  
  
"And to the Psi Corps?" The Captain said almost immediately afterwards, calling the bluff which it was quite obvious that she was making.  
  
She looked down and breathed deeply. Obviously he had struck a cord with her, but he did not understand how he could have done so with such a simple question. "Sir, understand something," she said to be sure he had his attention. "I first discovered I had telepathic abilities when I was barely seven years old. When my parents found out, they were frightened of me. They tossed me out onto the streets. I was having to look and fight for food in dark alleys and street corners. It was there that a Psi Cop found me. The Corps gave me a home. They gave me hot food, new clothes, a warm bed. They gave me an education, they taught me how to use my powers. They protected me, they gave me a family. They gave me a life that I wouldn't have had otherwise. So yes, to answer your question, I am loyal to the Psi Corps." It was the first time Barns had seen the Psi Cop display any great amount of emotion.  
  
Her story, as short as it was, took the Captain off guard. Never the less, he was committed to make a point here. "You can be loyal to the Corps, I cannot order you not to be. But understand this; while onboard my ship, you *will* obey my command. You will do nothing to put this ship, it's crew or it's mission in danger. You will place those above anything else and, if you do not, I will have you shot." He paused briefly, allowing what he had just said to sink in with her. "Is that clear?"  
  
Mara nodded. She understood all of this and had before she came onboard but she had not expected for it to be described to her in such vivid tones. If it showed her anything, it showed her that the Captain was a strong man, who cared about his crew and who cared about Earth, qualities that she admired. "Understood sir. But you understand this, I will not set aside my loyalties to the Psi Corps. While I will do as you say, I will not sacrifice my loyalty to the Corps for them."  
  
The Captain nodded as well. "I see we're both going to have to come to some understandings then." He paused slightly, wanting to escape from this conversation as soon as possible and continue on with business. "I seen in your file that you're a highly rated fighter pilot."  
  
"You have to be to fly the Black Omega fighters sir, they only accept the best pilots for those squadrons," she said with the pride of being one of those pilots showing prominently in her voice.  
  
"Good, talk with Commander Meade about getting added to our flight rotation. I trust you have no problem with pulling you're weight while you're onboard?"  
  
"None what so ever Captain. I am after all a members of this crew."  
  
"Yes..." the Captain acknowledged. At much as he may not like it, she was indeed a member of the crew. "Very well, Officer Kirshak, that will be all. Senior Officer briefing at 0800 tomorrow morning. Earth has handed us a new one and we're likely to need your skills as a criminal investigator."  
  
"Aye sir," she said rising to her feet. As she left the room, Barns admitted that, even though there meeting was short, he came out of it with a greater degree of respect for her than he had going into it.  
  
The Captain leaned back in his chair. For as short as this day had been, he was already tired. "Barns to MacDonald," he said into his link, anticipating that the Commander was back to the bridge by now.  
  
"MacDonald here sir."  
  
"Set a course for Proxima 3, maximum burn." the Captain toggled his link off.  
  
The Dark Thunder shifted course in hyperspace, it's engined glowing brightly with blue and white light, slightly illuminating the black hull as it speeded towards it's destination.  
  
EAS Dark Thunder  
  
Officer's Mess  
  
January 24th, 2264 0630 EST  
  
With the noteable exception of her initial welcome to the EAS Dark Thunder and, to some degree, her next meeting with the Captain, Mara Kirshak had enjoyed a relatively quiet and uneventful first day onboard the EAS Dark Thunder. After settling in to her quarters, rather small by the standards she was used to but luxurious by starship standards, and meeting with Commander Meade, who assigned her a flight rotation schedule, she took the rest of the day to herself, sending a brief message to the Corps to inform them of her arrival and catching up on various readings during the remainder of the day.  
  
Still unsure as to how the rest of the crew would react to her, she had kept a safe distance during her first day onboard the destroyer. Hence why a decision as seemingly simple as to go eat breakfast in the Officer's Mess worried her so greatly. Not that she was here to make friends by any means but she did not wish to feel like an outcast, considering that she was likely to be on this ship for some time, despite the Captain's obvious objections to her presence. She only hoped that the rest of the crew did not feel the way he did.  
  
The room was bustling when she stepped in. The tables were filled with officers, most were likely those who would be coming on duty in the next thirty minutes. As she stepped up to the counter and took a tray of food, she realized for the first time since she left, that she missed New York. On her way to the office every morning, it had been her custom to stop by a local shop and purchase a bagel, which had been baked only minutes before, with fresh cream cheese and fresh orange juice. It didn't sink in that whoever had told her that life was much different on a starship was correct until she stared at the bowl of freeze-dried oatmeal in front of her. As she glanced around the mess looking for an empty table, she wrote the food off as one of the many things she would have to get used to about life on a starship.  
  
Still, the view of hyperspace from the windows of the mess almost made up for the quality of the food. Staring into hyperspace was something she could never grow tired of. The different shades of red and black swirling in what could be described as both chaos and order. She found it most intriguing.  
  
What was not intriguing however was that she could not find an empty table. She finally settled on one where to JG Lieutenants were sitting at one end. She took a chair at the end away from them. No sooner had she sat down than did they stand and leave. She sighed softly but chose to ignore it, eat her breakfast as fast as possible and leave.  
  
As she began to eat, she did not notice a young, brash looking Lieutenant slowly yet confidently strolling her way from another table, a mub in one hand. He pulled out the chair in front of her and sat down. She pretended to take no notice of him and simply continued with her breakfast.  
  
"Lieutenants Junior Grade Eicker and Allen," the Lieutenant said followed by a long drink from his mug. While Mara was quite sure that he was attempting to be friendly, she was admittedly confused by the statement he made.  
  
The Psi Cop sat down her spoon and dabbed at her mouth with a napkin before looking up at the young Lieutenant. "Excuse me?" She asked, searching for a clarification of what he had just said.  
  
The Lieutenant suddenly developed a rather large smile on his face. To some it would seem that he was amused by her question but there was no fooling a Psi Cop as to the real reason why he was smiling and sitting at the table with her. "Those two Lieutenants," he commented, gesturing to the two who had just left and were now seated at another table. "They were transferred onboard a few weeks ago when we were undergoing repairs and refits at the Jupiter Orbital Yards. I was in charge of orienting them, we never really got along. To be truthful," he leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "I think they've both got a little too much testosterone in their systems, makes them rude."  
  
He sat back and was pleased to say that his comment had earned him a small laugh and a smile from the beautiful young telepath. "And who might you be?" Mara asked with a smile and a slightly friendly tone to her voice.  
  
The Lieutenant crossed his arms together and leaned back further. "Lieutenant Connor MacKenzie," he answered. "Senior helm officer for this fine vessel." He leaned forward again, placing his arms on the table and staring across at Mara. "And you might be?  
  
Mara looked at MacKenzie, puzzled. *Surely* if two Junior Grade Lieutenants new about her than the senior helm officer must. "You mean, that you don't already know who I am?" She asked, her voice displaying a slight degree of sarcasm in it.  
  
"Oh," MacKenzie replied, his voice displaying an equal if not slightly higher degree of sarcasm. "Of course I know who you are," he continued. "I just figured it would be a little more polite to have you introduce yourself as opposed to walking up and yelling, 'Hey Psi Cop!'"  
  
Another smile and a laugh. If, as she surmized, Lieutenant MacKenzie was trying to brighten her day up a little bit, he was succeeding. "In that case Lieutenant MacKenzie," she said, still a hint of laughter in her voice. "Officer Mara Kirshak."  
  
"Well, Officer Mara Kirshak, it's a pleasure to meet you."  
  
"Likewise," the Psi Cop replied.  
  
"Now tell me something," MacKenzie began, looking deep into the telepath's eyes. "Why are you starting your first full day on the Dark Thunder out by eating," he rose slightly to examine the substance that he was already sure was in the bowl in front of her. "Freeze-dried oatmeal?"  
  
Mara Kirshak recognized immediately that Lieutenant MacKenzie seemed to be on a mission to make her feel a little more welcome on the Dark Thunder than she felt at first. "It seemed the only option," she answered with a slight shrug.  
  
MacKenzie chuckled. "That's just cause you don't know where to look," he commented with a smile. Not explaining any further, he quickly downed the rest of his drink and bolted up from his chair. "Come on," he said to Mara, gesturing with a glance towards the door.  
  
Slightly intrigued and curious, the Psi Cop followed him out of the mess hall.  
  
Reactor Room  
  
0639 EST  
  
Chief Tech Russell Chang had been hard at work for a good two hours this morning. Not that he was required to be at work that early, as the senior officer, though not a very fitting term as he was still technically an enlisted man, in the reactor room, he was not required to be on duty until 0700, when many of the senior officer checked on duty for the day. He simply checked on early so as to get a jump start on his work for the day. He always tried to get at least some of his work finished during either the night or the early morning watches. Those tended to be less hectic and he enjoyed his work much more when all he could hear was the faint hum of the engines and the reactor.  
  
Beginning his work early also gave him the small opportunity to show off to the Captain. He would likely receive a perverbial 'pat on the back' if, by the time the Captain reported for duty on the bridge, he had the engine fuel efficiency ratio back up to the 94.7% he had it at before the engineers at Jupiter got their hands on them. Not to speak badly of the Lieutenants, Lieutenant Commanders and Commander who comprised the teams that the Jupiter Orbital Yards had working in his reactor room for two weeks, he recognized of course that they were good at their jobs but they did not know these engines or this ship like he did.  
  
Few however did know the engines of the EAS Dark Thunder like he did. He had been onboard this ship since it was merely a gutted out Omega class space-frame. He had of course been onboard the Omega-X/Warlock project longer than that, ever since Captain Barns had brought him onboard when he was first assigned to oversee the project. While he was proud to have been part of the next technological leap of the Earth Alliance, parts of the job of designing and constructing the Omega-X class ships still haunted his dreams. The days when President Clark would threaten their families if they did not have the ships completed on time. The days when he had to work with the Shadow thralls.  
  
Now, all of that was over and he could go back to doing what he did best, simply making sure everything ran as best it could. The interlinking and combination of Earth and Shadow technology was no easy thing to care for. It was even more difficult to squeeze maximum performance out of the cobblework of systems. Still, he had learned a few tricks over the more than two years in which the Dark Thunder had been in service.  
  
He rose out of a crawlspace where he had been tinkering with the fuel systems and found the nearest computer console. He logged onto it using his standard security code so that he would have full access to all engineering systems and diagnostics. "Computer," he said as he wiped the sweat from his brow, enclosed spaces were not things he generally enjoyed but they tended to be a neccessary evil for his job. "What is the current fuel efficiency ratio?"  
  
The computer monitor displayed the answer and said it at the same time. "Fuel efficiency ratio is 94.8%"  
  
Chang grinned. There were some days when he had to admit that he was quite pleased with himself. He imagined that the Captain would also be pleased, that was the highest he had ever managed to the ratio to. Perhaps those enginners at Jupiter actually had known what they were doing to his engines ... doubtful.  
  
"Not bad Chief," the unmistakably proffesional tone of Commander Edward MacDonald came from behind him. Chang turned to see the Commander step closer and examine the display. "Not bad at all," he added with a slight smile. MacDonald was another one of the types who liked to have everything as close to perfect as possible.  
  
"Why thank you Commander," the Chief said as he dusted his hands off on the engineering jumpsuit he was wearing. "So," he began, walking to the other side of the room to continue his daily diagnostics. "What can I do for you sir?"  
  
MacDonald casually and calmly reached into his pocket and pulled out a data crystal. Seeming to take special care that none of the other techs in the reactor room noticed, ge handed it to the Chief. "Something the Captain and I want taken care of," his voice dropped almost to a whisper, making Chang a bit more curious as to what was on the crystal. "Quickly and quietly," the XO added.  
  
After that, Chang wasted no time in plugging the crystal into a slot and bringing it's contents up on the monitor in front of him. To anyone else in the room, it would appear that he was simply examining a diagram of a SA- 26X fighter but there was much more there for anyone who looked closely. After he finished skimming over it, he looked back to MacDonald. "Sir," he began, almost shocked. "You're serious?"  
  
MacDonald nodded once, his arms crossed as he looked directly into Chang's eyes, conveying that he was indeed *very* serious. "Yes. I trust you can handle it?"  
  
The Chief suddenly regained his confident attitude. Of course he *could* do it. There was never any question to that, he had just wanted to make sure that they were sure they wanted it done. "No problem sir. Give me a couple of hours once I can get down there."  
  
"Go now Chief," the Commander ordered, leaving no room for negotiation.  
  
Chang quickly gathered a couple things from the reactor room, tools he would need which would not be found in the fighter bay. "I think I'll go now." He commented as he passed MacDonald on his way out the door.  
  
The XO glanced at the time readout in the reactor room. 0701. He had other places to get to before the senior officer briefing.  
  
Officer's Quarters, Deck 5  
  
0708 EST  
  
"Tell me Lieutenant MacKenzie," Mara began her question as she finished off the last of the eggs on her plate. "How you managed to find all of this food?"  
  
The Lieutenant, who was now cleaning off his own plate in the small cooking area of his not enitrely small quarters, smiled slightly. "Nothing illegal I'm afraid." He put the plate back in it's place and joined her again at the table. "Bought a bunch of it during our layover at Jupiter. I like to save it for special occassions." He refilled her glass with fresh orange juice, finishing off the bottle. "Believe it or not, the officer's mess isn't enitirely bad *all* the time. I rather enjoy it some times."  
  
Mara leaned back and smiled, feeling almost totally relaxed for the first time since she had arrived on the Dark Thunder. "I suppose I'm just a little too used to living in New York."  
  
"Oh, we're all like that whenever we first report for starship duty," MacKenzie gathered her now empty plate and took it to clean it. "There's a lot of adjustment at first but, after a while, being in space is something you wouldn't trade for anything."  
  
Mara nodded. While she could not say so for herself, she had heard many people say similar things. Of course, up until now, telepaths weren't allowed to serve on starships or in any form in Earthforce which limited possibilities for going to space. Possibilities were even more limited for Psi Cops who could not serve in a commercial telepath capacity. "Perhaps I'll get the chance to learn that for myself." As MacKenzie sat back down at the table, Mara decided to shift gears to keep the conversation moving. "So, have you heard anything about this mission we're going on?"  
  
MacKenzie shook his head slightly. It was rare for him to hear anything about the ship's missions before the actual briefing on them. Generally the only ones who did were the Captain, XO and the other two or three command level officers. "No," he paused slightly. "Just that it involves some kind of investigation on Proxima 3," he took another sip of his juice. "I'll say this though, I'll be glad to get away from dealing with the renegade Seventh Fleet for a little while."  
  
EAS Spectre, Omega Class, Renegade Fleet Command Ship  
  
Holding Position in Hyperspace  
  
0729 EST  
  
Major Timothy Robinson scowled at the report in front of him. It was a report he never enjoyed reading, a report that always seemed to make him think that they may be fighting a lost cause. The report of the assets that they lost from the past week. Of course they were fighting a lost cause, a handful of destroyers, cruisers and support ships trying to take on not only Earth Alliance but the whole of the Interstellar Alliance. After the events that occured late last year, the ISA had been taking a more active role in helping Earthforce in tracking down his ships. The Spectre, his command ship, had already engaged two White Star patrols this week.  
  
Most of what was on the report, he had already hear about. The loss of the patrol cutter Calloway was no great surprise to him. Against his direct orders, the Captain had attempted to raid a fourteen ship supply convoy bound for one of Earth's largest ship yards. The ship met it's end when two squadrons of Thunderbolt fighters, which had been cleverly hiding with the convoy, disabled it's defense grid and hit it with a volley of missiles.  
  
Another blow that would inevitably be felt for some time was the loss of their repair and rearming base which had been hidden in an asteriod belt in a relatively uninteresting sector of space. How Earthforce found out about it was something he was still looking into, especially now that they were again devoting resources and supplies to establishing another base.  
  
The rest of the losses were ones that were barely worth his attention but that would still hurt the cause in the long run. A shipment of food and medical supplies bound for his vessels was intercepted at Beta Durani. A squadron a Badger class fighters which had been sent on a raiding mission against an ISA convoy heading for Earth space had been destroyed by the accompanying Minbari fighter wing. He quickly logged that down as something else to look into, why Minbari fighters were escorting *unmarked* ships into Earth Alliance territory.  
  
Something that did manage to catch his eye. He had covert agents stationed all over the Earth Alliance and even in some parts of the rest of the ISA. On colonies, space stations, outposts, every place where they might be needed. Now, on Proxima 3, four of his operatives had been killed in the past week. From what he had read on the Earthforce networks, their was no news of a crackdown of any sort against his people on that planet. Even if there was, it would be much more characteristic of Earthforce to capture his people rather than kill them. His spies were a valuable part of his operation and four of them on a single planet had never died in a week before. As a matter of fact, up until this point, he had only lost two operatives since they broke away from the Earth Alliance and those were captured, not killed.  
  
"Interesting," the Major commented to himself as he continued to stare at the report. With his fleet laying low and not being committed heavily to any operation at the moment, this was something that deserved his *personal* attention. "Robinson to bridge," he said into his link.  
  
"Bridge here sir," Commander Scott Comstock answered.  
  
"Prepare to change course."  
  
EAS Dark Thunder  
  
Conference Room  
  
0800 EST  
  
The senior staff of the Dark Thunder was now assembled, with the exception of the Captain and the XO who tended to be a couple minutes late to these meetings. They were generally going over the mission, organizing their thoughts and notes so as to make the briefing as clear and concise as possible. The only two who were missing from this meeting were Colonel Zachary Storm, who was finishing up hostile environment training with his marines and Mars and would be rejoining the ship at the end of the week, and Chief Tech Chang who had opted to skip the meeting so that he could work on the project Commander MacDonald assigned him to.  
  
The rest were assembled in their usual places. The chairs at the front of the oval shaped conference table left empty, for the Captain and the XO. Next to where Barns would be sitting shortly was Lieutenant Commander Griffon. Next to her and moving down, Commander Nathan Meade, Ranger Greg Giovoni, the two empty seats normally occupied by their absentees, Lieutenant Connor MacKenzie, Officer Mara Kirshak, who filled a vacant seat and finally Commander Julia Rourke, who took the seat next to where MacDonald would be sitting.  
  
The room was mostly quiet. MacKenzie and Officer Kirshak were carrying on a quiet conversation to themselves while Ranger Giovoni, the normal example of unwavering calmness in the face of a deadly storm, was pretending to fake interest in *another* one of Commander Meade's fighter jock stories while in actuallity, ignoring him for the most part.  
  
Griffon was the first to look at the door as it slid open, allowing the Captain and XO to walk in and take their places at the table, both of them setting down a pile of black folders in front of them, those which likely contained the details of the mission they were undertaking.  
  
"All right," Barns said to pull everyone's attention away from their own thoughts and conversations. "Let's get started," the Captain preferred to waste no time in these things. He handed the stack of folders towards Griffon who took one and passed the stack down to the next person. "Commander," he said gesturing to MacDonald.  
  
"As you all know," as was the norm for these meetings, the XO began the briefing. "We'll be arriving at Proxima 3 in a little under two hours. General McDouglass has become concerned about an increasing number of murders against Earthforce personell over the past couple of weeks on the colony. We'll be going in to provide a base of operations and a team to investigate while at the same time showing the flag." He paused briefly, turning to the next page in the folder and allowing the rest of the staff to catch up on the background reading which they all seemed to be glancing at. "The initial team going down to the planet will be relatively small. Consisting of the Captain, myself, Commander Rourke, Commander Hawks, Officer Kirshak and three security officers. We'll be meeting with the local Earthforce commander, Commander Sykes and going over the evidence. Should it become neccessary, other teams may be deployed to the planet to assist in the investigation. We'll also be using the advanced equipment on the DT to analyze any evidence." He looked to the Captain.  
  
Barns stood and looked his officers over. He had served with most of them for years. Good people, each and every one. With the closeness he had developed with them over the past two years, it was still difficult for him to accept a Psi Cop sitting at the table with them. "It is my hope that we'll find whoever is responsible for this quickly. I'll be counting on everyone to work together to bring a swift resolution of this." He shifted gears. "Commander Griffon, you'll be in command of the Dark Thunder while we're on the planet until Commander MacDonald, Commander Rourke or myself return. The landing team will disembark from the ship as soon as we arrive. I'll want two Thunderbolts providing escort," the Captain ordered with a quick glance to Meade.  
  
  
  
The Commander Air Group(CAG) was quick to reply. "I'll get a couple of my boys suited up, fueled up and ready to fly ASAP sir," the Commander answered with his usual cocky tone of voice. He did so partly because it was his attitude, having been a fighter jock, and a good one for some time and partly, because it drove MacDonald insane.  
  
The Captain nodded to Meade, trying not to make any sort of a comment. "Any questions?" He asked as he gathered his things.  
  
"Just one," Officer Kirshak was the only one to speak up. Barns gave her a quick gesture to proceed with the question. "Do we know how these people are being killed?"  
  
"That, Officer Kirshak, is part of the mystery." Barns waited only a few seconds for the others to ask questions, there were no more, before he dismissed the meeting.  
  
As the assembled officer filed out, MacKenzie bent over and whispered to the still sitting Officer Kirshak. "Another exciting day onboard the EAS Dark Thunder."  
  
Orbit of Proxima 3  
  
1027 EST  
  
"Shuttle One to Shuttles Two, Three, White Knights Four and Seven we are clear of the hangar, aligning for standard orbital decent pattern," MacDonald said nearly as soon as they were clear of the hangar bay. The rest of the trip to Proxima had been uneventful, the only even somewhat notable thing occurring when Chief Chang reported to the bridge that he had finished his assignment, a full hour earlier than he had anticipated. MacDonald had wished he would have made the report in private, seeing as how it raised some eyebrows on the bridge, but most of the crew thankfully wrote it off as yet another maintenance assignment.  
  
"Shuttle Two confirms," Hawks replied. "We're right behind you Commander."  
  
Officer Kirshak's voice followed immediately. "Shuttle Three has cleared the hangar, we're following you in Commander."  
  
When the transmission ended, Barns glanced to his XO who was dutifuly working the shuttle flight controls. "Tell me Commander, how do you think Commander Rourke and Officer Kirshak will be getting along in a shuttle by themselves?"  
  
MacDonald scowled, not turning away from the controls. "Two equally annoying women," the XO observed. He said nothing else to the Captain but toggled the comm system back on. "Shuttle One to Shuttles Two, Three and White Knights Four and Seven, we're beginning approach." On cue, the three shuttles and the two escort fighters, bearing the markings of the White Knigth squadron, a knight dressed in blue riding a pure white horse, entered the atmosphere of the colony.  
  
Earthforce Administrative Building  
  
Proxima 3  
  
1034 EST  
  
Commander Jacob Sykes paced nervously as he awaited the arrival of the shuttles from the Dark Thunder. He was pleased to see that Earthforce finally sent someone to investigate but he had guessed it would be a small team from Earth Dome, not the Captain and several officers from the EAS Dark Thunder.  
  
Still, he was grateful that something was going to be done. He'd lost several good people over the past few weeks and not being able to develop as much as one solid lead on the killer was becoming more and more frustrating with each passing minute. Therefore, he was anxious for someone to bring a fresh perspective on the case.  
  
His link chimed. "Sykes, go." He quickly answered.  
  
"Sir, the shuttles from the Dark Thunder have just landed. The crew is disembarking as we speak."  
  
"Very well," the Commander answered and quickly toggled his link off.  
  
Mere seconds later, the airlock from the landing port slid open with a hissing sound. Commander Sykes immediately snapped to attention and saluted as Captain Jerry Barns and his entouragewalked towards him. The Captain of the EAS Dark Thunder returned the salute and extended his hand to Commander Sykes.  
  
"Commander Sykes I presume?"  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"Captain Jerry Barns, EAS Dark Thunder."  
  
"Well if I may say sir, it's about time Earthforce sent someone to check out what's going on here."  
  
Barns nodded and gestured for the Commander to lead them down the corridor. "When was the last murder?" The Captain asked, wasting no time in jumping into the task at hand.  
  
"Yesterday," the Commander answered, his voice filled with what could best be described as pain. "We estimate sometime around 1100 Hrs, that makes the seventh one of my people to be killed in three weeks. We've also discovered four civilians who appeared to have died in the same manner."  
  
Upon hearing that, Barns could not understand why he had not heard of what was going on before now, either from Earthforce or on ISN. It was not everyday that eleven people were murdered in less than a month by seemingly the same killer. "What's the cause of death?" The Captain asked next.  
  
"Well sir," Commander Sykes began his answer hesitantly. "That's one of the mysteries of this case." Before Barns had the chance to ask him to, Sykes continued with a further explenation. "By our best estimates, they all died of natural causes. The thing about it is, all of my people who died were in excellent physical condition, the same with the civilians. There appeared to be nothing wrong with them but yet they appeared to die of natural causes."  
  
Barns could now understand Commander Sykes' suspicion that there was some kind of foul play involved. With eleven people dying of the same cause, even if it appeared to be natural, it was hard to believe that there was not some sort of common thread in how they died. "Do you have any leads? Any other evidence?"  
  
Sykes shook his head. "Nothing. Only the bodies of the victims which are being kept in cold storage here on the base. That and our initial reports on the cause of death, where the bodies where found, things like that. We haven't been able to deduce anything from that though. All of that information has been linked to the computers in the lab where the bodies are."  
  
Barns glanced to his crew who were standing behind them. They seemed to be in agreement with what he was thinking. "That seems a logical place to begin then. If you would tell us how to get there, we'll be taking over from here. I'm sure you have other things to do besides showing us around."  
  
"Indeed," Sykes said with a nod. He then pointed down an adjacent corridor to Barns' left. "Down that way," he commented. "Third door on the right, can't miss it."  
  
EAS Dark Thunder  
  
Bridge  
  
1037 EST  
  
"There it is again Commander," Lieutenant MacKenzie alerted as he looked at the sensor display on the helm console.  
  
"You're sure?" Lieutenant Commander Griffon asked skeptically as she rose from the Captain's chair and went to examine the display for herself. She saw nothing, as she had seen nothing the previous time that MacKenzie had thought he had.  
  
"Positive. It was just there for a second and then it was gone," the Lieutenant observed.  
  
"Well let's go into a little more detail Lieutenant," Griffon said sternly. While she believed that MacKenzie saw something, she wanted a good explenation before she raised what might be an unneccessary alarm. "Define 'it'."  
  
The Lieutenant turned away from the helm console to look Griffon in the eye. "I don't know Commander. It was like, an echo. Like there was something out there hiding from our sensors that we just managed to pickup for a split second and then it was gone again."  
  
Griffon nodded. There were dozens of possible explenations for what MacKenzie defined as an echo. While the Dark Thunder carried one of the most advanced sensor suites designed by Earthforce, even it was vulnerable to the occassional glitch that would cause such a thing. Still, it would be foolish to immediately write off such a thing. "Continue scanning Lieutenant. Inform me if you detect anything else." She took her seat again at the Captain's chair and toggled her link. "Griffon to Chang."  
  
"Go ahead Commander."  
  
"Chief," the tactical officer began. "I want you to run a diagnostic on all of the sensors and also go over the data from all of our sensors, main, tactical, navigation, everything. See if you can't find out anything about Lieutenant MacKenzie's ghost."  
  
  
  
Earthforce Administrative Building  
  
Proxima 3  
  
1041 EST  
  
It did not take them long to walk down the corridor to the room Commander Sykes had told then about. The corridors were drab, even compared to those on the Dark Thunder. The Earthforce base on Proxima 3 was, like many Earthforce bases on colony, a product of modular construction. It made it easy to put up, even easier to tear down but left little in the way of asthetics. Not that such things were required.  
  
The door to the room was marked simply with the words 'MEDICAL STORAGE' in a medium sized silver lettering.  
  
Barns stopped before entering and turned to his crew. Their expressions all indicated the same thing, that they were both skeptical and concerned about this situation, as he was. He looked back at the door. "Let's get to work," he said simply. The Captain entered his security code into the door locking system, causing it to slide open.  
  
He stepped in and immediately began to make his way to a nearby computer console. Officer Kirshak followed. As she stepped into the room, she suddenly became overwhelmed. There was a flood of powerful psychic energy. She fell to the ground, screaming as if in pain and grasping her head.  
  
MacDonald and Hawks quickly grabbed and supported her while Barns dropped to a knee to check on her. While he was not thrilled about having her as part of his crew, he didn't want to have to explain something happening to her to the Psi Corps either. "Officer Kirshak," he said, lightly shaking her, trying to pull her out of whatever this was. It did nothing. "Officer Kirshak," again, this time louder and with a greater intensity. Still nothing. "Mara!" The Captain shouted. She began to steady, taking her hands away from her head and breathing deeply. "Are you all right?" The Captain asked, seeming to express genuine concern.  
  
"I ... I think so," she answered, still breathing deeply. "I've managed to block it and the initial rush of it seems to be subsiding as I grow more accustomed to it."  
  
Barns was, as the other officers from the Dark Thunder were, confused. None of them had the slightest idea what she was talking about, of course, that was understandable, she being the only telepath among them.  
  
"What do you mean?" MacDonald asked. "Block what?"  
  
She shook her head. Off the top of her head, she could think of no better explenation than that. "I don't know," she paused, taking another deep breath. "It was like," seemingly on cue, the chiming of Barns' link cut her off.  
  
"Hold that thought," the Captain said to her as he stood. He toggled his link on. "Barns, go."  
  
"Sir, it's Griffon. We've got a situation up here sir."  
  
Just what he needed to here. There were often times when Captain Jerry Barns thought that the galaxy was actually trying to make his life as difficult as possible. "What kind of situation?"  
  
"Just after you left, Lieutenant MacKenzie started detecting what I can best describe as a sensor echo on the navigation sensors. Just to be on the safe side, I had the Chief check it against the other sensor arrays and we discovered ..."  
  
There was a sudden burst of static followed by a voice that Captain Barns recognized immediately, a voice that he could not forget. "Me," Major Timothy Robinson said simply.  
  
"Robinson," the Captain said, his voice filling with what Officer Kirshak easily identified as anger and even a degree of hate.  
  
"Yes Captain Barns," the Major continued. "And I need to speak with you, regarding the case you are investigating."  
  
"What about it?"  
  
"Let us just say Captain, that whoever the killer may be, he is our common enemy and I wish to help you in finding him."  
  
Barns looked around the room and at his crew. He made a decision.  
  
EAS DARK THUNDER  
  
SEASON ONE: SOUL OF FIRE, MIND OF DEATH  
  
EPISODE ONE: TWILIGHT'S EMBER  
  
ACT THREE  
  
EAS Dark Thunder  
  
Bridge  
  
1049 EST  
  
"Get him back!" Lieutenant Commander Griffon shouted with as much intensity as she could muster. The bridge of the EAS Dark Thunder was painted in a dim red light from the klaxon alert lights. The normal ligths always dimmed when the ship went to red alert, allowing for the crew to have better visibility of their control consoles, a must during tactical situations.  
  
Chief Tech Chang feverishly worked the controls at the operations console. "I'm working on it Commander but I'm having trouble cutting through the jamming from the Spectre. We can listen in on the channel but can't transmit on it." As the Chief continued to work to restore communications with the Captain, he was most sure that Griffon would not be happy with that response.  
  
"Not good enough Chief," she responded. The comm. channel was silent and she was a little more than anxious to see what the Captain's response to Robinson would be. In the meantime however, she had an enemy destroyer sitting directly in front of her and it was her main concern for the moment. "Lieutenant MacKenzie," she shifted gears. "Maintain weapon's lock on the Spectre. They make one move to lock on us, charge weapons or open gun ports and you take them out."  
  
"Yes ma'am," MacKenzie said as he transfered tactical control the helm station. "Main guns and missiles are locked, loaded and ready to fire."  
  
Griffon next tapped a control on the arm of the Captain's chair. "Griffon to Meade, status."  
  
The response from the CAG was quick, his voice slightly muffled indicating that he was talking through a flight helmet. "Black Knight and Avenger squadrons ready to launch. White Knight squadron is prepping and will be on deck in ninety seconds."  
  
"Very well, launch and move into standby attack position. Stay just outside of the Spectre's anti-fighter weaponry range."  
  
***  
  
"Confirmed," Meade switched the comm channel over to that used by the fighter's attached to the Dark Thunder to communicate with each other. "Black Knight Lead to Avenger Lead."  
  
As always, Ranger Greg Giovoni's response was most punctual. "Go ahead Black Knight Lead."  
  
"You heard the order, let's do it." Meade verified the last of the pre- flight checks on his fighter. "Black Knight Lead to Avenger and Black Knight squadrons," a pause. "Launch!"  
  
***  
  
Griffon watched as the twelve Shadow-tech Thunderbolts and the six Vorlon tech Ranger fighters took point in front of the Dark Thunder. It was curious to her that the Spectre still made no move to launch fighters or engage the Dark Thunder in any other way. Whatever his reasoning may be, it was a terminal error on Robinson's part.  
  
"What do you propose?" Hearing Barns' voice took the bridge crew by surprise as it seemed he had been considering what Robinson said in silence forever.  
  
"That we declare a temporary truce." Robinson began. "We both have resources that may be of benefit to trying to find whoever is responsible, we both have different views. We can work together for the sake of both your people and mine."  
  
As Robinson talked, Chang continued to work on breaking through the Spectre's jamming and getting back in contact with the Captain. "Commander," he said as Robinson continued to talk. "I think if I run a second, tachyon enhanced, transmission on top of the one that Robinson is currently jamming, we might be able to break through to the Captain."  
  
Griffon could tell that the Chief knew what her response would be before she said it, hence we was already working on carrying out his plan when she gave the order to. A minute or so later, before the Captain had replied to Robinson, the Chief had finished. "Give it a try Commander," he said.  
  
"Dark Thunder to Barns, Dark Thunder to Barns, can you receive?"  
  
The Captain's voice came through, albiet a bit garbled. "Go ahead Commander."  
  
Griffon breathed a sigh of relief and made a mental note to congrtulate the Chief on quickly doing an excellent job. "Sir, we've got weapons trained on the Spectre. Black Knight and Avenger squadrons are in attack position, White Knight squadron will be ready to launch shortly. Captain, this is our chance to stop them, we're just waiting for your order."  
  
"Barns!" Robinson exclaimed. "Listen, I'm not here as your enemy," the Major's voice had a hint of desperation to it, likely the result of having half a dozen fusion lasers and a compliment of fusion missiles from the Dark Thunder locked onto his ship. "I'm here because I've had people die down there to and I want the killer brought to justice!" A beat. "Lieutenant Commander Griffon will verify that I've made no hostile moves towards the Dark Thunder and even now, when her weapons are locked onto my ship, I have not made one move to return the favor."  
  
There was a pause as all the sides involved seemed to consider their options and the situation that all of them were in. Barns was torn between potentially ending the threat from the renegade Seventh Fleet with one swift blow or gaining a potentially valuable ally in the mission he had been given by Earthforce. Griffon and Robinson simply waited for his answer.  
  
"Commander Griffon," the Captain said softly. "Will you verify what the Major said?"  
  
She did not like one bit where this seemed to be going. "He's telling the truth sir, they've made no agressive actions since the moment we detected them."  
  
"That's because I'm not here to fight Barns! All I'm proposing is, for lack of a better term, a temporary cease-fire. Once we've found the killer, we can go back to this little cat and mouse game we've both become so accustomed to. For now though, can't we put that aside so that we can bring someone who has killed both your people and mine to justice?"  
  
There was another brief pause. "You will come to the planet alone," Barns' reply was not what was anticipated by the bridge crew of the EAS Dark Thunder or by the officers on Proxima 3 with the Captain. "I'll allow you to carry a sidearm but nothing more and if you or your ship makes one wrong move, it will be blown out of the sky."  
  
"Thank you Captain. Perhaps as a gesture of good will, Lieutenant Commander Griffon and her fighters would be willing to take their sights off of my ship?"  
  
"Barns to Dark Thunder," it was faster than the Captain's previous responses to Robinson had been, indicating that he had been planning to do so before the Major had even suggested the idea. "Terminate target locks against the Spectre and recall fighters but should they make one move that could be even loosely interpretted as hostile, you are to destroy them. Clear?"  
  
"Very," simply put by Commander Griffon.  
  
"I'll be arriving shortly Captain, I trust you'll take care of all the technicalities with the Earthforce personell down there?" Robinson asked.  
  
Barns had already figured out that he would have to make up some cover for Robinson. He would likely say simply that he had requested another one of his crew to assist in the investigation. Robinson would be smart enough to install a different transponder signal on the shuttle he would be using. Then all that would be required would be to keep Robinson out of sight as much as possible. "Of course," the Captain answered.  
  
"Then I will see you shortly."  
  
"Barns out."  
  
Earthforce Administrative Building  
  
Proxima 3  
  
1102 EST  
  
As Barns toggled his link off, Commander MacDonald was already fast on his way to speak with his Captain, in a state of disbelief as to what had just transpired. They had been fighting Robinson for just less than a year now and here the Captain was, ruining the best opportunity they had had in months to destroy him and his command ship. "Captain, if I may, are you sure about this?"  
  
While Captain Barns always found his first officer's opinion invaluable, he was not the type who liked to be questioned once he had made up his mind. He did of course understand MacDonald's concerns and his opinions. He shared both of them. "Yes I am sure Commander. Perhaps he actually can help us. Help us on the mission we've been ordered to carry out by Earthforce. Something makes me genuinely believe that he means what he said." The Captain paused as he went to check on Officer Kirshak. "I know that you and probably most of the other crew won't like it," he said to MacDonald. "But I am willing to use any and all resources available to accomplish this mission, even if one of those resources is Major Timothy Robinson."  
  
It was obvious to MacDonald that he would not win this one. Too bad, he would have very much enjoyed seeing the look on Robinson's face when he slapped the cuffs on him as soon as he stepped off of the shuttle and ordered Griffon to destroy the Spectre. "Very well sir, however I would like to issue my formal objection."  
  
"Your objection is therefore noted!" The Captain snapped. He said nothing else to MacDonald but sat down next to Kirshak, who had taken a seat at one of the many computer consoles in the room. "How are you feeling?" He asked her.  
  
"Better," she said softly. "It's subsided now and whatever hasn't faded into the background, I've managed to block. I'm just trying to get over the initial shock now."  
  
Barns, of course, still did not understand what she was talking about, aside from the obvious, that it involved her telepathic abilities. "Blocked what? What happened?"  
  
She thought for a moment. There was no easy way to explain it to someone who had never felt what it was like to hear someone else's thoughts, to be in someone else's mind before. "When I stepped into the room," she began explaining as best she possibly could. "I felt a sudden, surge of psychic energy. I don't know where it came from or what it means but, it's there. I think I've disperesed most of it though." She shook her head. "I'm sorry Captain, I don't expect you can understand what I'm talking about and I don't know how else to put it."  
  
The Psi Cop was right, Barns did not understand what she was talking about. Not that it mattered at any rate, they had a mission to get on with. "Let me know if you begin to feel anything else again," he said to her as he stood up.  
  
"Understood sir."  
  
"All right people, let's get to work." The Captain began, anxious to solve this mystery and be done with this. "Mac, Hawks, I want you to begin going through the personel files and records of everyone one of these people. Look for anything that they might have in common, no matter how insignificant. Commander Rourke, I want you to meet Major Robinson when he lands, afterwards you and Officer Kirshak will start going over the medical records. Have Doctor Delementrio on the ship assist you. The Major and I will be going over all of the other evidence. Coordinate with Commander MacDonald and myself anything that you may find. Go to it," on cue, the crew dispersed around the room and went to their assigned tasks.  
  
'The Slums', Central City  
  
Proxima 3  
  
1128 EST  
  
"You did not tell me that she would be with them," the figure who sat in the shadows said to the image on the communication's monitor. He did not like having to make adjustments to his plans. Having to change a well thought out and well put together plan often left holes in it, holes which could be exploited by those working against you.  
  
"How could I have anticipated what Barns would do?" Bester responded, his voice raising. He could not be blamed for the actions of one Earthforce Captain who had proven many times in the past to be quite unpredictable nor did he wish to be blamed for his actions. "I had figured that he would not trust her and hence he would have her remain onboard the Dark Thunder. I could not have known that he would bring her down to the planet."  
  
"Where do her loyalties stand?" He asked. That question was, obviously, of far greater importance that why Barns would take her as part of his investigation team.  
  
"To the Corps," Bester responded quickly and sharply. "Otherwise, she would not have been assigned as to the Dark Thunder or to any ship in the fleet. Officer Kirshak has been a project of ours for sometime, ever since we first found her. She was raised by the Corps and from what I and others have observed, has undivided loyalty to us."  
  
Excellent. At least that much was in his favor. However, there were still questions which had to be asked. "Is she aware of our plans?"  
  
Bester sighed. The timing was not right. He understood that, as did his 'superiors' but he was uncertain if his associate on Proxima 3 would understand that. He seemed to be more concerned with the success his particular mission than with the greater good of the purpose. "No, not yet. I felt that it was too soon. For now she is in the place she needs to be. When the time grows near, I will bring her in on the plan."  
  
"Then she poses a threat to my operation here?" He was not pleased. This operation had taken a great deal of time and effort to setup. He could not allow it to be ruined by a single Earthforce Captain, his crew and a Psi Cop who was not aware of their plans.  
  
"A potential threat," Bester commented with a slight scowl at his associate. "If she does become a threat, you are not to harm her. Do what you must to ensure the success of your operation, but do not harm her. Understood?"  
  
His associate answered with a nod. He was not pleased but there was also not much that he could do, not at the moment at least. As the transmission ended, he whispered to himself. "Even telepaths have secrets Mr. Bester."  
  
"Indeed they do," the deep voice from behind observed.  
  
"Then you agree?"  
  
He nodded. "If she or any of the Dark Thunder crew become a threat, eliminate them. If she learns of your association with me, your work on my behalf or your work against the Psi Corps," he paused. "You know what you must do."  
  
Earthforce Administrative Building  
  
1129 EST  
  
Commander Julia Rourke was, like the rest of the Dark Thunder crew, less than thrilled about working with Major Robinson. It went deeper for her however. Up until last September, she had been Major Robinson's executive officer onboard the EAS Spectre. They hadn't spoken since then but he had sent her a message saying simply that he felt her betrayal more deeply than he had with anyone else. Therefore, she was not looking forward to this meeting. Nor did she have any idea why Captain Barns had assigned her to greet the Major when he arrived. She guessed that he would be more pleased to see any other member of the Dark Thunder crew rather than her.  
  
As the Major stepped out of the airlock, he made no move to salute her, a good thing since she would not have returned it if he had. "Commander," Robinson said, stopping in front of her. "It's been a while."  
  
"That it has," she tried to keep her tone of voice as neutral as possible but just seeing the man brought back a lot of memories for her, most vividly, the day he told her that he planned to launch a nuclear attack against Earth and coincidentally, the same day she resigned from his service. "The Captain and the others are this way," she said, starting down the corridor at a relatively quick pace, hoping to avoid as much conversation with Robinson as possible.  
  
"How have you been Julia?" The Major asked, walking quickly to stay beside her.  
  
"Fine," the Commander answered, her voice conveying the fact that she had no interest in carrying on an idle conversation with him.  
  
"You know," Robinson continued, seemingly unaware that she was trying not to speak with him. "Some of the crew often ask if I've heard anything about you. Sometimes I tell them that I know you're all right, a lot of times I don't know what to tell them."  
  
"And how is the crew?" Rourke asked as they rounded a corner. While she had no particular like for Robinson, there were still some members of the Spectre's crew who she considered to be friends. Many who she often worried and wondered about whenever she heard of a renegade destroyer being engaged.  
  
"Fine, considering that they know the only way they can ever go home again would be to do so as prisoners," those words from the Major seemed to strike a nerve with Rourke as they continued walking. "Nelson and Drake both received promotions last week," the Major continued. "Newell came down with a touch of the flew while she was on the transfer point at Io." The Major stopped, both speaking and walking. Rourke turned and looked towards him. His face displayed a grim expression. "We had a run in with the Jamestown near Beta Durani. I tried to get us out of their as quickly as possible but we took a hit amidships. Whishert and Eckstien didn't make it."  
  
Rourke took a moment of silence to herself. She recognized the names immediately. Although she did not know either of them well, she felt their loss, as she did with everyone who was lost on either side in this damned conflict. "You can end this you know?" She said, looking him square in the eye. "End this senseless conflict. End this senseless killing!"  
  
"No," the Major said softly, his voice lacking in any conviction. "I can't. Not anymore. It's spiralled out of control Commander. Out of my control, out of anyone's. There's nothing, nothing short of the hand of God," he paused slightly. "Or the hand of the Devil."  
  
Perhaps he was right. There was too much blood behind this conflict now, too much hatred. "This way," she said, resuming her stride down the corridor.  
  
***  
  
When Robinson arrived in the medical storage room, he and Captain Barns exchanged little in the way of greetings. The most that was said was Robison informing Barns that he had brought his records on his operatives that had been killed. They were then indentified as the four people whom Commander Sykes had identified as civilians. They then went to work on one of the many computer terminals in the room.  
  
Rourke joined Mara who was already pooring over the medical records with an open comm. channel to Doctor Delementrio onboard the Dark Thunder. When the Commander sat down next to the Psi Cop, she was in mid-conversation with the Doctor.  
  
"I agree with you Officer Kirshak, there's no sign of fowl play in any of the deaths," the Doctor observed. "The only thing peculiar as the way in which they died."  
  
Rourke quickly glanced to Mara to clue her in on what she had already discovered. "It's odd, it seems as though the brains of all the victims just stopped functioning, causing every major system in the body to shut down in a matter of seconds."  
  
"There's evidence of extreme trauma to the brain. I couldn't identify what kind unless I was able to do a detailed autopsy on one of the bodies."  
  
"Doctor," Rourke began. "What could cause this? Let's start with natural causes, then go to viruses then go to anyway that someone could have done this to murder these people."  
  
As the Doctor began to list off all the small number of possible causes, Kirshak's eyes became fixated on the screen. It was as if the information seemed to be speaking to her. She could not even begin to explain what she was sensing but she knew the was something more there. All she had to do was find it. "I need to see one of the bodies," she announced, cutting off the Doctor in mid-sentence.  
  
"What?" Rourke was needless to say confused.  
  
"Trust me," the Psi Cop standing, quickly bolting to her feet. "I need to see the one who died the most recently."  
  
***  
  
During Rouke's and Kirshak's brief conversations, Barns and Robinson were busily pooring over the reports made by the security officers who had been dispatched when the bodies were found. Most of it was dishearteningly the same. No evidence. No guess at a motive. No clear indication as to a murder weapon.  
  
Looking away from the reports in front of him briefly, Robinson glanced at Officer Kirshak and then turned back to the screen. "A Psi Cop?" He whispered to Barns. He knew for a fact that Barns did not trust telepaths, he shared his sentiments.  
  
"Against my better judgement, yes," the Captain answered. The Captain continued his work, trying not to draw attention to the conversation he knew this would develope into. "A new ability of the Psi Corps, ratified a few days ago. Allows them to station their people on Earth Force vessels."  
  
Robinson glanced at Kirshak again, slower this time. He had always believed that you could learn a great deal about someone just by looking at them. He realized of course that it made no sense, it was just a feeling of his. "Do you trust her?"  
  
"Of course I don't trust her," the Captain commented, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. "I don't know where her loyalties are. I don't know why she was stationed on my ship. I don't know if she's part of the Psi Corps' plan. Hell," the Captain paused momentarily. He just now realized that he was speaking with the enemy. He knew that General Wallace had had ties with the Psi Corps but he was unsure about Robinson. Of course, he was taking a chance simply by working with Robinson, then again, so was the Major. "I'm not even sure what the Psi Corps' plan is."  
  
"Captain," Robinson began his reply, still not looking away from his console. "As you probably know, General Wallace had some ties with the Psi Corps, ties that I give you my word, I do not share. Never the less, I do know something of their plans. Bits and pieces, the General was not very forthcoming and his computer records on the subject were wiped." The Major paused again, unsure as to how Barns would react to what he would say next. "I want you to know, that when the time comes, you and I will be fighting the same battle, just in different ways." Barns glanced up at him. While he knew what the Major meant, he was unsure as to the exact meaning of his statement.  
  
"Until then Captain," the Major continued. "You need to find out where she stands."  
  
"I know," Barns answered. "Believe me Major, though the crew is working with her, seemingly without a problem, it's for no other reason than that she is a benefit to this mission. Everything she does while on my ship will never be above suspicion or scrutiny, despite the crew seeming to accept her."  
  
"Look at this," Robinson said, suddenly switching back to the real topic at hand.  
  
Captain Barns glanced at the screen, seeing exactly what the Major saw, something that may be the break they needed. Having a seemingly perfect sense of timing, both MacDonald and Kirshak approached them at the same time, both seeming to have something to report.  
  
"Mac, Kirshak, good." He said turning to face them both. "Take a look at this," he pointed to the exact section of the screen. Both of them saw it as well. They both looked away from the monitor, wanting to deliver their news as well but both Barns and Robinson were nearly to the door. "The two of you with us," he said to MacDonald and Kirshak. "Hawks, Rourke, hold down the fort here."  
  
Central City Marketplace  
  
Proxima 3  
  
1344  
  
The hooded figure ducked back into the small room where his companion was waiting. They had been sure to rent as small and as inconspicuous room as possible so as to avoid attracting attention, something that neither of them wanted nor could afford at the moment.  
  
"Well?" She asked him from the shadows. It had been her idea all along to come here, an idea he still did not totally understand, especially given that she had given him no explenation for it. Only that they needed to go to Proxima 3 as soon as possible and she was not willing to take no for an answer.  
  
"I saw nothing," he answered, rather annoyed with her at the moment. Not only did she drag him here with no explenation, she had asked him to go look around to make sure there were no authorities present. "No Earthforce security officers, no shock assault teams, no Psi Cops and no Blood Hound units. Satisfied?"  
  
"Not entirely," she answered, her voice stern. "But I suppose it will do."  
  
"Perhaps now you would mind telling me why we have come here? Why we deviated so far from our planned course? Why we entered Earth Alliance space without their knowledge or consent? Why we risked being shot down by an Earthforce cruiser for not indentifying themselves upon entering their space? And why I am out looking around for Psi Cops?!?" His voice grew louder with each question he asked, indicating to her that he was more than slightky bothered by this situation.  
  
"I have my reasons. My sources told me of something happening here. Now that I've had time to look around some for myself, I have a reasonable guess as to what it may be. All I have to do now is stop an injustice from happening." Her voice remained calm yet stern as she spoke to him.  
  
"And when do you plan on telling me *anything* about what is going on?"  
  
"Soon," she said, her voice warming slightly. "I just need to be sure." She paused slightly. "I'll need your help again," she said softly. She had asked for his help so much and offerred him so little in return, it pained her everytime she had to ask for it again.  
  
"I am, as always, at your service," he said in a dignified matter.  
  
She reached into her bag which was at her side and pulled out her holstered PPG. She removed it, made sure the energy cap was good and flipped the safety off. "Let's go."  
  
Six Minutes Later  
  
The trip here from the Earthforce base had taken them some thirty minutes, not including the time they had spent changing into civilian clothing and keeping Robinson out of sight of the other Earthforce officers at the base. His face had been shown to them so many times on wanted posters and intelligence update that he would be recognized almost immediately, in his uniform at least, in civilian clothes he seemed to blend relaitvely effeciently.  
  
Officer Mara Kirshak was the only one of the four who still wore elements of their uniform, those being the gloves and the Psi Corps badge. While this made her stand out slightly among the crowd, most who saw her wearing them in civilian clothes simply wrote her off as being a commercial telepath.  
  
Commander MacDonald glanced quickly at Kirshak, who was walking next to him and then at Robinson, who was walking by the Captain in front of them. He still could not believe they were working with either of them. Kirshak was a neccessary evil as there was not much short of a PPG that they could do about her but Robinson was an entirely different story all together. They could have easily taken him into custody and crippled the Seventh Fleet. Perhaps one of these days, he would ask the Captain why he had chosen to work with him. Now however, was not the time for those questions.  
  
Of course, the Major did make one critical discovery before any of them did. The fact that the bodies of the last two victims were discovered essentially right on top of one another and had virtually the same time of death. Not only that but, according to the report from security, the person who last reported seeing both of them alive was the same person, a local merchant by the name of Mike Rollins, he specialized in what amounted to pieces of junk from alien worlds.  
  
"So where are we to find this Rollins?" Robinson asked, doubtful that the others would know the answer any better than he did.  
  
Barns shook his head. The market was a gaggle of people. Hundreds of them flowing through. He found it hard to believe that, if it was always like this, no one would have seen anything in relation to the murders. That was a question for another time however. "I don't know," the Captain answered. "Perhaps we should split up." A beat as Barns examined the area. "Officer Kirshak and myself will head to where the bodies were found, see if it turns up anything. Mac, you and Robinson see if you can find Rollins." With a slight bit of hesitation from MacDonald, the four split and continued in seperate directions.  
  
"Are you sensing anything?" Barns asked as they pushed their way through the thick crowds.  
  
The Psi Cops calmly shook her head. "Aside from the normal background voices that come with walking through a rather compact and crowded area," she observed, her voice calm and collected. "Nothing."  
  
Barns pointed ahead. "I believe they were discovered in an ally, a couple hundred yards in that direction." The Captain and the Psi Cop continued ahead.  
  
***  
  
"You don't like me do you Commander?" Robinson said bluntly, turning to face MacDonald.  
  
The XO of the Dark Thunder was caught a bit off guard by the Major's question. "It's not a matter of if I like you or not. I've been ordered to work with you for the remainder of this mission and rather I object to those orders or not, I will carry them out."  
  
"That's not what I asked!" Robinson snapped. MacDonald's strict and proffesional demeanor angered him greatly. He wanted a straight answer and by god he would get it. "What do you think of me Commander? It's a simple enough question."  
  
MacDonald stepped closer to him, his fists clenched at his sides and his eyes burning with ferocity. "Do I like you? You have violated every principle and ideal that I swoar and oath to and have spent a lifetime protecting. You have murdered people for doing the same. You betrayed me once when I thought we were on the same side. Since then, the lives of hundreds if not thousands of soldiers are on your hands. And worst of all, you claim that you are fighting for Earth when five months ago you ordered one of your ships to launch a nuclear attack that would not only have killed millions of people but would have left the planet nothing more than a smouldering hunk of rock!" The Commander took a moment to calm down. "Be assured Major, after this little truce is over, we will hunt you down. No matter how long it takes and we will bring you to justice."  
  
Major Robinson had anticipated such a response yet it still seemed to strike him. "One day Commander, you and I might be able to have an interesting debate. For today however, we have a job to accomplish."  
  
The two continued making their way through the market. Several minutes later, MacDonald spotted a vendor in the distance. He gained Robinson's attention and pointed to him. "I think that's Rollins." He paused momentarily, making sure Robinson saw the person he saw.  
  
"Indeed," the Major responded. The relatively young man was chatting with a customer who was wearing an Earthforce uniform. "He matches the picture we saw at the colonial records office."  
  
MacDonald motioned in his direction. "What do you say we have a word with Mr. Rollins?"  
  
***  
  
From behind a corner, they watched as the two of them approached. A man and a woman who wore the markings of the Psi Corps. They were still to far to make out a face on either of them but she knew the woman was Psi Corps.  
  
"Probably just a commercial telepath," he commented to her, trying to calm her down.  
  
"No," she rebutted. "I can tell, she's ... much stronger. She's a Psi Cop, no dobut about it."  
  
"Well then," he said as he drew the multi-barreld PPG from a pouch on his side. "If you can sense her, then she will no doubt soon be able to sense you. I will create a diversion while you escape. We will meet in two hours at the rendezvous point."  
  
"I'll see you there," she said, touching him on the shoulder slightly before bolting away.  
  
He slowly dropped to one knee behind suitable covered, raised his weapon and prepared to fire.  
  
Seconds Before  
  
"Captain," Mara said, suddenly stopping. "I feel something."  
  
Barns' first instinct was to make some sort of comment along the lines of, 'not again', he however tried to retain his business like demeanor. "What is it?" He asked.  
  
"I'm not sure, it's," she quickly looked up. "Captain get down!" She exclaimed as she pushed him behind a stack of large boxes, just in time to avoid the PPG blast that would have struck him square in the chest had she not acted quickly.  
  
Bolts of energy now flew over his head as he and Kirshak ducked into the small amount of cover that the boxes provided. He drew his own weapon, as did she.  
  
"Whoever that is, they've got us pinned down pretty good," the Captain observed.  
  
"That they do," the Psi Cop commented, weighing their options as she saw them in her head. After only several seconds to make a decision, just gestured to another group of boxes nearly adjacent to the ones they were now behind. "I'll cut across to there, try to draw his fire. When I do, you can take a shot."  
  
"Risky," was the Captain's first and only comment.  
  
Kirshak of course had no argument in that. She knew quite well that there was a great deal of risk involved, especially if the shooter had any experience in hitting moving targets. "I know," she said. "But it's the only option I see at this point."  
  
Barns could not disagree with her there. By having only one target, the shooter was able to cover them quite well, with two targets, at least one of them would have a chance to return fire at him. "Do it."  
  
Kirshak took several deep breaths and then bolted for her destination, staying as low as possible. Several energy bolts impacted directly behind her as she ran but none hit their mark. When she reached her cover, the shooter seemed to concentrate entirely on her.  
  
Barns seized the opportunity. He sprang to his feet, leveled his weapon and fired several bursts where the shooter was hiding. The opposing fire suddenly stopped. Kirshak raised her weapon and joined the Captain in firing several more shots. There was no return fire from the shooter.  
  
After an exchange of a quick glance, Barns and Kirshak advanced slowly and cautiously on his position. As they neared it, both were startled when a large Narn popped up fron behind the cover and trained his weapon on them. Both of them returned the favor but it did not take Barns long to realize who the Narn was.  
  
"G'Kar?" The Captain said in slight disbelief, continuing to aim his gun at the Narn.  
  
"Captain Barns," G'Kar said, lowering his own weapon and becoming thankful when both Barns and Kirshak lowered their's. "I'm afraid I did not recognize you with the company you are keeping these days."  
  
***  
  
From a short distance, Lyta watched in disbelief. She could not believe that she had asked G'Kar to fire on Barns. Of course, she did not know it was Barns at the time. Even harder for her to believe was that the Captain of the EAS Dark Thunder was accompanied by a Psi Cop. As she looked at the three of them, she suddenly realized that Kirshak was not the enemy she had come here to find but, that that enemy was near. Very near.  
  
Moments Before  
  
Marketplace, Central City  
  
Proxima 3  
  
"You could at least give me some amount of respect for standing by and fighting for my convictions." Robinson's voice was calm and casual as he made his comment to MacDonald while he they slowly strolled to the table being run by Mike Rollins.  
  
MacDonald dropped his hand to his PPG at his side, mostly for the purpose of making sure it was there, though he admitted he was more than a little tempted to put a shot into Robinson right here and now. "I don't see why I would be expected to do so for a man who's convictions change the way they change."  
  
"You're never going to forgive me for that are!" Robinson snapped around to face MacDonald who quickly stopped also. Not that he expected MacDonald to forgive him for it of course but, even though they were enemies, he did not wish for it to be held against him in the way it was. He could see it in MacDonald's eyes, as plain as day when he looked at him.  
  
"Forgive you?" MacDonald scoffed. "It was over. Wallace was in custody, the remainder of his ships that hadn't been destroyed or disabled and boarded were ready to surrender." The Dark Thunder XO stepped closer to him, indirectly issuing a challenge. "You and I had been secretly working together for over a month to bring Wallace down. I thought we were on the same side but then, after we have him, you turn on us. Rally the rest of the renegade ships and even a couple of our task force that we had brought to engage you, knock through our ships, destroying both the EAS Victory and the EAS Hera, killing over fifteen hundred officers and crew and escaping to launch your own little terrorist war against Earth." MacDonald gave himself a moment to calm down. "Tell me Major, do you even know what you are fighting for anymore?"  
  
"For Earth Commander," Robinson answered with complete conviction and belief behind his voice. "We're both fighting for Earth Commander. You fight for the Earth that is, I fight for an Earth that could be. That's what makes this war so difficult Commander, we're fighting for the same thing."  
  
"Tell me you haven't tricked yourself into believing your own rhetoric," MacDonald was tired of this conversation, he had had no desire for it to begin in the first place. He did not want to deal with Robinson in any greater capacity than was needed to get their job done.  
  
Robinson was more interested in the conversation however. He had never known MacDonald thought this way about him, not that it bothered him to say, he simply found it interesting. "I've tricked myself into believing nothing."  
  
"Then you truly are disturbed," MacDonald told him with no hesitation in his voice. "Perhaps when you are brought to justice you'll be given the help that you need."  
  
They approached the table where Rollins had just been speaking and likely dealing with a customer in an Earth Force uniform. Neither of them were present now however. Both MacDonald and Robinson quickly surveyed the crowd, MacDonald drawing his PPG as a precaution.  
  
"Do you see him?"  
  
"No," Robison answered, drawing his own weapon, partially as a precaution to the situation and partially to be on his guard after MacDonald had drawn his. He was not, after all on the Commander's good side.  
  
After a few minutes of looking, MacDonald caught sight of the Earth Force officer, quickly ducking into a dark corner. The Commander and the Major exchanged glances and quickly made their way in that direction.  
  
EAS Dark Thunder  
  
Bridge  
  
1400 EST  
  
Of all things that were greatly disliked by Lieutenant Commander Leslie Griffon, waiting was just about at the top of the list. Waiting with an enemy destroyer staring her down was the *top* of the list. The last they had heard from their people on the surface was that the Captain, MacDonald, Robinson and Kirshak were headed for the central city in the largest dome on the surface to try to further their investigation. That news had come a little more than an hour ago.  
  
The ship was now running at a yellow alert status. While the Spectre was keeping it's word about not making hostile movements towards the Dark Thunder, she was not about to begin to trust them. The only reason that the Spectre hadn't been blown out of the sky by now by Proxima 3's defense systems was that they had reconfigured their IFF codes so as to appear to be a transport vessel. That and the Dark Thunder had been keeping any ships that might make a visual identification of the Spcetre out of the area.  
  
"Commander," Lieutenant MacKenzie spoke up for the first time since they had stood down from red alert. "Incoming signal from Commander Sykes on Proxima 3."  
  
News about the Captain perhaps. Griffon turned slightly to face the communication's monitor on her right side. "Put it on, monitor three."  
  
"Commander Griffon," the rather distressed looking image of Commander Sykes said quickly.  
  
Seeing the expression upon the Commander's face, Griffon was not sure that she wanted to hear whatever news he was about to deliver. "Go ahead Commander," she answered after a brief moment of silence.  
  
"Commander, we've been getting some strange signals from the other side of the planet. We started picking them up a couple hours ago and we can't get a clear ID on them. We think it's a ship of some kind but we can't be sure. With your Captain still busy on the surface, I was hoping the Dark Thunder could investigate."  
  
While the Dark Thunder tactical officer was pleased to not hear bad news about Barns and the rest of the crew with him, she was not pleased with not hearing any news about them or the progress of their mission. She would readily admit, to herself at least, that she was greatly concerned about all of them, Jerry in particular. Yet, somehow, she knew he was all right, for the moment at least. "You have no idea what these readings are?"  
  
"Only that we're almost sure that it's a ship of some kind. All we're getting is an intermitent blip on our perimeter sensors. It could be nothing but we'd prefer to play it on the safe side."  
  
If *all* they were detecting was an intermitent blip on their perimeter sensors, then it likely was a nothing. Griffon could list a dozen possible causes for it just off the top of her head. She knew that the Chief could probably name a couple hundred. Never the less, it could prove a decent way to spend the time while they waited to hear from the Captain. "Very well Commander, I'll send some fighters to investigate, Dark Thunder out." She took a moment and then tapped a control on the arm of the Captain's chair. "Bridge to Giovoni."  
  
"Giovoni here Commander."  
  
"How soon can you be in the air?" She asked.  
  
"One minute after you give the word."  
  
"Then get up there, we've got something to check out." She switched off the comm. system and looked to Chief Tech Chang who was still manning the operation's console. "Get me the Spectre."  
  
***  
  
The multiple sounds of PPGs firing was more than enough to cause MacDonald and Robinson to temporarily lose interest in the Earthforce officer and Mike Rollins and bolt towards the direction the firing sounds were coming from. They pushed and shoved their way through the crowd which was fighting their way in the other direction, attempting to get away from the gun battle which seemed to be occurring. Before they reached they got close enough to get a glimpse of what was happening, the sounds of the firing weapons stopped.  
  
To MacDonald, this could mean only one thing; that one of the parties involved in the exchange had taken out their opposition. Of course, he had been wrong before, he reminded himself as they finally broke through the mass of people to see the Captain and Mara standing with their weapons lowered and a Narn, who he easily identified as G'Kar standing only a few feet from them, his weapon also lowered.  
  
"Captain," MacDonald said to gain Barns' attention as he and Robinson both raised their weapons into a standby position. "What's going on?"  
  
G'Kar holstered his weapon and began walking towards the Earthforce officers. "That, Commander MacDonald, seems to be, as you humans say, the question of the hour."  
  
As the former Narn ambassador walked closer to them, Mara looked straight into his eyes. He was hiding something, she could easily tell. "Where is she? The Psi Cop asked, her voice deep and filling with conviction.  
  
He knew there would be no avoiding the subject and that there was little reason to lie to a Psi Cop. Never the less, he was not about to just give her away. "Where is who?" G'Kar asked innocently.  
  
Mara stepped up to him, gripping the PPG at her side tighter. "Don't you dare try to lie to me. *Lyta Alexander*, where is she?"  
  
"Officer Kirshak," Barns said softly, hoping to diffuse the situation before it escelated any further.  
  
"It is my duty!" The Psi Cop snapped back at the Captain. "I must take her into custody. She is a dangerous rogue, a criminal and it is my duty to apprehend her."  
  
"You say that only because she fights against what you stand for. She fights for freedom for her people, for justice. You couldn't possibly understand. They control you and you don't even realize it," G'Kar responded in an eerily soft and calm tone.  
  
She was going to waste no more time. She slowly raised her PPG and pressed it under the Narn's neck, her finger resting on the trigger. "I wont ask again."  
  
While it did nothing to phase her, the sound of three PPGs powering up behind her was sufficient enough for G'Kar to shoot a glance at the three Earthforce officers. Barns, MacDonald and Robison had already their own weapons and had taken aim at Officer Kirshak.  
  
"Lower your weapon," Captain Barns gave a strict, no compromising order.  
  
As if on cue, something struck the young Psi Cop. It was not as powerful as it had been in the Earthforce building on Proxima 3 but, it was a similar feeling. This time, it was not painful as it was the first time, she had trained herself to block most of the feeling, none the less, it was distracting.  
  
Another sound of a PPG activating, this time from in front of Mara, behind G'Kar. Lyta Alexander stepped out from behind a corner, weapon trained on Mara. She slowly approached her and the Psi Cop could sense her hesitation as she did.  
  
"You sense it as well don't you?" Lyta asked as she slowly stepped closer to Mara.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"That," Lyta said, lowering her own weapon as a gesture to Mara. "That is the enemy we have both come here to find. We share a common enemy right now. I am not yours nor are you mine."  
  
Somehow, Kirshak knew that Lyta was right. She took her own weapon away from G'Kar, causing Barns and the others to lower their weapons as well, albeit with a degree of hesitation in MacDonald's case.  
  
"What are you talking about Lyta?" Barns asked. The Captain was growing tired of not knowing what was happening where these telepaths were involved. He, along with MacDonald and Robinson had reached the point where they wanted some answers, or at the very least some insights.  
  
"Your killer Captain," Lyta answered quickly. "Is near, very near."  
  
"And about to strike again," Mara added, turning away from G'Kar and Lyta.  
  
As the Captain was ready to ask another question, there was a scream.  
  
***  
  
Greg Giovoni eased his Hel'Zha class heavy fighter into a lose formation with the two Starfuries launched for the EAS Spectre. While had was flying in the point formation, he was keeping a watchful eye on the two fighters flying two both of his sides. While they were supposed to be on the same side, at least temporarily, it would be foolish to let his guard down simply because Major Robinson said his people would not attack the Dark Thunder.  
  
He kept the speed on his fighter at a little more than sixty-five percent of it's maximum, so as to allow the less advanced Starfuries to keep up. At this speed, they would be at the location where the mysterious sensor readings seemed to be coming from in five minutes. He took the time to run various diagnostics on the fighter's systems as well as to briefly meditate and prepare himself for whatever they might find.  
  
As they neared the location, the sensors in the fighter began to light up, detecting, as the sensors on Proxima 3 were, some sort of an intermitent blip. To Giovoni, it was most curious that the advanced sensors of the Vorlon/Minbair tech fighter were not able to detect more. He ran a quick yet detailed diagnostic on the sensors to verify that they were not malfunctioning, then toggled the fihter's comm system on. "Avenger Lead to Spectre fighters, you getting that?"  
  
"Confirmed Avenger Lead," the muffled voice of the Starfury pilot replied. "We're definetely picking something up, can't identify."  
  
"Acknowledged," Giovoni switched off the comm. Four different sources detecting the same thing had to be more than a simple sensor malfunction. There was something there. Now all they had to find out was what it is and what it's intentions are.  
  
"Avenger Lead to Dark Thunder. We're detecting the same thing that Proxima is. Estimate we'll be within visual range in two minutes. Continuing approach."  
  
***  
  
"Very well Avenger Lead, report in if you find anything," Lieutenant Commander Leslie Griffon switched the comm system off and looked to Chang at the operations station. "I'd say that it's probably something more than sensor trouble wouldn't you?"  
  
The Chief also had to admit that the sensor systems from four different places weren't likely to have the same type of malfunction. Of course, he knew there was nothing wrong with the sensors in Giovoni's fighter as he had personally performed routine maintenance on them only two days ago. "Agreed. There's got to be something out there. The question is, what."  
  
Griffon nodded. That was one of several questions though quite possibly the most pressing of the bunch. "And whoever they are," the tactical officer commented. "They're either going to a great deal of trouble to stay undetected or they are naturally hard to detect. Either way, I don't like it." A brief pause. "Have all fighter squadrons go to full alert status. I want them ready to go in case Giovoni does find anything. Advise the Spectre. Lieutenant MacKenzie, standby on weapons and defensive systems."  
  
***  
  
Lyta and Mara led the way, Barns, MacDonald, Robinson and G'Kar close behind. The two telepaths seemed to know exactly what was happening while the others were, for the most part in the dark. Though Barns was more concerned with stopping the killer, he would be asking someone for an explenation as to all of this later.  
  
Also on the Captain's agenda was to find a way to keep Mara from arresting Lyta and quite possibly G'Kar along with her. While he had only met Lyta Alexander once on a chance encounter at the end of last year, he recognized the role that she would one day play. While he did not agree with some of her methods, he also knew that the Psi Corps could not be allowed to take her.  
  
Of course, there were more pressing things to attend to at the moment, he reminded himself as they slowed upon nearing a darkened alley. Lyta and Mara both, almost instinctively drew and readied their PPGs, prompting the others, including G'Kar to do the same.  
  
"In there," Lyta said, catching her breath.  
  
"The killer?" Robinson asked, seeking a confirmation since the telepaths obviously knew more than they were sharing with the others.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"All right," Barns began, retaking control of what was happening. "Officer Kirshak, you and I will check it out first. Mac, Lyta, you follow us. G'Kar, Major Robinson, you're covering our backs. Let's go."  
  
As soon as the Captain gave the order, he and Kirshak quickly made their way into the alley, weapons raised at the ready. The first sight they saw struck both of them, someone laying on the ground in an Earthforce uniform, barely alive.  
  
Kirshak bent down to look at the barely breathing person. As she stared at the person, she suddenly felt something. Similar to what she had been feeling but different in some way, more personal. "Mike?" She muttered. At that same moment, a PPG blast flew past her head. Barns instinctively pushed her out of the way and returned fire in the direction the shot came from.  
  
The exchange of fire continued for several seconds until fire from the other side suddenly stopped. Barns was momentarily hesitant to stand, at the risk that it might be a trap, until he saw Lyta walking past him, heading for where the PPG fire had come from. "What happened?" He asked her.  
  
"The two shooters were just hired thugs, very low telepathic resistance. I *suggested* that they might enjoy a nap for a while."  
  
As she stood, Officer Kirshak decided against mentioning that Lyta's actions in that situation were illegal though, she did make a mental note to have it added to the list of charges against the woman.  
  
"If those two were just hired thugs," MacDonald observed as he looked at the two men laying on the ground. "Then who's responsible for the murders?" Since the two telepaths seemed to know what was going on, the XO surmized that they may indeed be able to answer that question.  
  
Lyta and Mara exchanged glances with each other. Lyta then went to talk with G'Kar while Mara took Captain Barns aside. "Sir, I have an idea. He's on the run and we can probably catch him if we act quick enough."  
  
While Captain Barns did not pretend to have any clue as to what was going on, he was none the less interested in any sort of a plan to bring this fugitive to justice, he could get all of the details at a later date. "What do we do?"  
  
As he observed Officer Kirshak talking with Captain Barns, Commander MacDonald greatly wished he was privy to what was being said between the to of them. Of course, he wished that he was privy to any information that everyone with the exception of him seemed to know.  
  
The Captain, after a minute or two of talking with Mara approached him. "Get on the line with Hawks and Rourke," the Captain ordered. "Tell them to get a tactical team put together and get here as fast as they can." The Captain paused. "We're taking him down," the Captain told him in a whisper and then walked away.  
  
"Another go," MacDonald said with a glance towards Robinson, who was standing in silent contemplation of the situation. The Commander toggled his link. "MacDonald to Hawks, saddle up pal."  
  
***  
  
The signal had been getting slightly stronger the closer they got to it though it still appeared to be nothing more than some sort of a sensor ghost. However, they were about to get a first hand look at this ghost with only ten seconds left before they entered into visual range with it.  
  
"Computer," Ranger Giovoni said, toggling several controls in the cockpit. "Begin recording. All sensors, all visual monitors, relay feed to the Dark Thunder."  
  
"Confirmed," the computer's drab voice acknowledged his command.  
  
After that, there were no more words. The three fighters rounded the planet to see, in the distance what could best be described as a small black void against the stars. It barely stood out, suggesting to Giovoni that it was a ship of some kind but, he could not place what type of ship it was.  
  
"Dark Thunder," he began. "You getting this."  
  
"Confirmed," Griffon's voice came through on the other end. "Doesn't match anything in our records but we don't have a very clear profile of it either."  
  
While he had not served with her nor any of the Dark Thunder crew for a very long time, the year he had spent with them made it very clear what Lieutenant Commander Griffon was implying with that statement. "Confirmed Dark Thunder, moving in for a closer look."  
  
The black ship grew as he continued to approach it but even as it's shape became more recognizable, Giovoni was still unable to identify it with anything. All he could tell for sure was that it was definetely a ship. What kind of ship and who it belonged to remained a mystery. As he came closer however, for a split second he thought that the hull seemed similar to that of the Dark Thunder.  
  
After that second however, identifying the ship became signficantly less important. A sensor alert on his control panel lit up. "Looks like some kind of power build-up coming from the ship. Spectre fighters, verify."  
  
At that instant, a small degree of movement on the outer-hull of the unidentifiable vessel occurred. Nearly at that same moment, a massive array of purple energy bolts sprayed forth from the hull, heading directly at the three fighters."  
  
"Evasie manuevers! Evasive manuevers!" Giovoni shouted as he flung his fighter into a roll to it's port side and away from the incoming energy bolts. The two Starfuries banked hard to their starboard side but one reacted to slowly and was caught in the shower of energy bolts, the fighter exploded in a massive burst of flame.  
  
***  
  
Griffon heard Giovoni's call for evasie manuevers over the comm feed and then nothing but chaos. Their sensors had detected the power build-up, the same as Giovoni's had but then a massive sensor jamming field blanketed the area.  
  
"Dark Thunder to Avenger Lead," she shouted. "Giovoni report!"  
  
The Ranger's voice then boomed over the comm system. "The ship just opened fire on us, one of the Spectre's fighters is down." A pause. "Wait, standby Dark Thunder." There was another brief pause. "Dark Thunder, we've got new sensor contacts. Eighteen total, they look like some kind of fighter, possibly launched from the unidentified ship. They're coming in on what looks like an attack vector."  
  
For a brief second, Lieutenant Commander Griffon wondered why things could never be even slightly simple. Then again, this way, life was guaranteed to stay interesting. "Griffon to Meade, launch all fighters, I say again, launch all fighters."  
  
"Commander," Chang alerted. "Incoming signal from the Spectre."  
  
Before Griffon had given the order to put the signal through, the voice of the Spectre's XO bursted across the bridge. "Spectre to Dark Thunder, we have monitored the situation and are deploying fighters. Recommend we coordinate our squadrons for best possible combat effectiveness."  
  
As if things couldn't get any stranger. "Dark Thunder to Spectre, I concur."  
  
Thunderbolts, Shadow-enhanced Thunderbolts and Hel'Zha fighters poored from the hangar bay of the Dark Thunder while Starfuries and Thunderbolts launched from the Spectre. They all entered formation with each other and began speeding their way to Giovoni's location, hoping they would make it in time.  
  
***  
  
He burst in the door of his small rented room, breathing heavily from the run he had just made. While he knew Barns and the others, most specifically Kirshak would be a hinderance to his operation, he did not expect the entire thing to go sour that quickly, especially since Mara had identified him. Even though she was not onboard with Bester's plan, yet at least, he had figured she would not turn against him, given their history together. Granted, it had been years since they had seen each other but he was still surprised by her reaction.  
  
Quickly, he began tossing several items into a small bag. He knew he had little time and that it was neccessary to get off the planet quickly. Luckily, his associate was prepared for such things and had a quick way off planet arranged for him. All he would have to do now is get to the shuttle that was waiting at a nearby launch pad. First however, he was going to have some words with Mr. Bester.  
  
By the time he had finished packing any increminating evidence, the communcation's screen displayed that Bester was online and waiting. He quickly grabbed the extra two PPGs which he had concealed in the room and sat down at the communcication's monitor. He pressed the controls which brought Bester's image to the screen.  
  
"You have something new to report?" The Psi Cop asked casually.  
  
That was a great understatement that didn't even begin to describe the situation he had just found himself in. "Barns and his people," he began frantically. "I believe that they are on to me, with help from Officer Kirshak." He paused and quickly glanced around the room. He felt something. Something very strong. They were here.  
  
***  
  
Outside of the building, Captain Jerry Barns and Major Timothy Robinson watched as dozens of Earthforce troops dispatched from the Proxima 3 base surrounded the small building. As the last of the troops took up shooting positions behind a small amount of cover only feet from the front entrance, the Captain toggled his link.  
  
"Barns to all teams, status check."  
  
"Team One in position," MacDonald answered quietly. The Commander was no stranger to these type of situations. Of course, he preferred a more covert approach to such things but he had confidence in the Captain's plan.  
  
"Team Two in position and standing by," Rourke answered next.  
  
Hawks was the last to reply. "Team Three standing by Captain."  
  
Barns nodded to Robinson. Now was the time to play their hand. Robinson switched his link to a private channel and ducked slightly away from the action while Barns continued to speak to the assault teams. "All teams, close communications. Entrance in ninety seconds."  
  
***  
  
Giovoni focussed his attention on the incoming fighters. He had never seen anything like them before, save for a slight resemblance to the Shadow fighters he had fought in the war. He considered it likely that the resemblance was only in his mind as there was no way they could be what he thought they were.  
  
The fighters were much more visible both visually and on sensors than their mother ship was. The unidentified vessel took the opportunity created by the distraction it's fighters caused to jump out of the system. Giovoni thought he monitored a shuttle from Proxima 3 docking with it but he could not be sure as his attention was locked onto the incoming fighters.  
  
He locked up on a fighter at the front of the enemy formation with one of the neutron missiles on his fighter. As he hovered his finger over the trigger, he whispered a phrase. "I am a Ranger. I walk in the dark places no others will enter. I stand on the bridge, and no one may pass. I live for the one," he depressed the trigger, sending the missile flying. "I would die for the one." He breaked his fighter hard away from the enemy formation as they began firing with purple pulse weapons. The battle was on.  
  
As the Ranger brought his fighter back around and fired on one of the enemy fighters with the miniaturized versions of the molecular pulsars found on the White Stars, he saw the other fighter from the Spectre burst in to flames. There was little time to offer a prayer for his soul as he was deeply embroiled in the fight. Continuing to fire, he heard Commander Meade's voice come over the comm channel.  
  
"Black Knight Lead to Avenger Lead," the Commander said. "Hold tight Greg, help is eighty seconds away."  
  
His fighter was then rocked by a hit from one of the enemy fighters. Eighty seconds in a seventeen to one situation might as well be an eternity.  
  
***  
  
"They're coming in after me!" He shouted, drawing two PPGs and making them both ready. He had convinced himself that he would not be taken alive. He would not be interrogated and possibly forced to reveal valuable classified materials to the enemy.  
  
"Most unfortunate," Bester said with a sarcastically sinister grin.  
  
He looked back to the monitor as he heard them starting to break the doors down. "Let me guess, this isn't how you anticipated they would act?"  
  
Bester laughed causing him to get the man's full attention. While he was not loyal to him, Bester at least thought he was and as such could not understand why Bester would consider this to be a laughing matter. "Let me guess, they're not acting the way you anticipated."  
  
The Psi Cop smiled. "On the contrary Mr. Rollins, everybody, from the beginning, has acted exactly the way I anticipated." Seemingly on cue, a single PPG shot. Bester watched as the man fell over, dead from a lethal shot to the head, then terminated the transmission.  
  
***  
  
Officer Kirshak made her way through the building with greater speed after she heard the PPG shot. Her plan had so far been successful, it did not seem that he had detected either her or Lyta, being more distracted by the Earthforce soldiers outside of the building.  
  
She reached the room where she had sensed him at before. Quickly sweeping the room with her PPG ready in hand, she saw nothing but his dead body laying on the floor in front of a communication's monitor. She bent over to examine it, seeing plainly what killed him, a single PPG wound to the head.  
  
As she started to stand, she heard the sound of a PPG charging from behind her. "Put the weapon away," Lyta commanded from the shadows.  
  
Kirshak slowly holstered her PPG as she turned around to face the rouge telepath. It seemed as though she would escape this day. "You won't get far," Kirshak told her. "You kill me and they'll start hunting you even more."  
  
"I'm not going to kill you," Lyta rebutted. "Because I think there might still be a chance for you." While keeping her weapon trained on the Psi Cop, Lyta tossed a small object towards her. Mara reached out and caught it, knowing it was the badge of the Psi Corps before she had examined it. "Bester will want that," Lyta continued. "The rest, the data crystals which detail his missions for the different sides he was working for, I'll keep for now. One day, the truth will be known." With that, she disappeared into the shadows.  
  
While Mara was left somewhat shaken by what had just occurred she was pulled back into focus when her link chimed. "Go ahead," she said quickly, her voice soft.  
  
"Officer Kirshak," Captain Barns' voice came through. "We've got to get back to the shuttle ASAP, there's something going on in orbit."  
  
***  
  
"Acknowledged Captain," the Psi Cop replied. "I'm on my way."  
  
Barns toggled his link off and turned towards Robinson who had just gotten off of a link with the Spectre. "Major," the Captain said with a degree of humility. "I am grateful for your help."  
  
Robinson nodded. He had to admit, the unlikely alliance, while not working out exactly the way he had anticipated, did accomplish what it set out to, albeit in a round about way. "Once we diffuse this situation in orbit," Robinson began. "You'll allow us to leave without any trouble?"  
  
"I am a man of my word."  
  
"Then for what it's worth," Robinson extended his hand to Barns. "Good luck to you Captain Barns."  
  
Barns gave a concillatory nod, ready to say something before MacDonald jumped in. "Captain," he shouted from across the street. "The transport is ready." With that, the two leaders of the unlikely alliance parted company.  
  
***  
  
The back half of Giovoni's fighter errupted into flame under heavy scrutiny from the enemy fighter's pulse weapons. Power in the fighter failed. His weapons, engines, shields, even the auto-repair system was knocked out. All that was left was communication's which served to give a slight bit of hope for his situation.  
  
Commander Meade's sensors now clearly displayed the enemy fighters. They were approximately ten seconds from being in visual range. "All fighters, lock missiles onto bandits. Max range launch at my command. Three ... two ... one ... fox three!" A halo of missiles soared forth from the Earth fighters, most of the enemy fighters evaded but several made it to their marks, causing the fighters to disengage from Giovoni's damaged fighter.  
  
"All fighters, break and attack!" The CAG ordered as he flung his fighter into the battle, pulse cannons blazing.  
  
***  
  
"Give me a sit. rep." Captain Barns ordered as he, MacDonald, Rourke and Kirshak quickly made their way onto the bridge of the Dark Thunder.  
  
Griffon quickly took her assigned place at the tactical station, relieving the young ensign who had been manning it in her stead. "Our fighters along with those from the Spectre are engaged against fighters launched from that unidentified vessel we sighted earlier."  
  
"Sensors are being jammed," Chang jumped in. "So we can't get an accurate view of the battle."  
  
Barns was quick to react. Since Griffon had already briefed him on most of the situation before he had left the surface, he already had a plan worked out in his mind. "Mr. MacKenzie, bring the jump engines online, standby to jump." The Captain's order raised more than a few eyebrows and earned him several odd glances from the bridge crew.  
  
Lieutenant Connor MacKenzie, while not understanding the order, carried it out. "Aye sir, jump engines online, ready to jump!"  
  
***  
  
Meade could not help but feel they were fighting an impossible battle. While they're superior numbers seemed to be giving them a slight advantage but the enemy fighters were considerably superior to their's.  
  
"White Knight Two to Black Knight Lead," Lieutenant Connell said over the comm system.  
  
"Go," Meade said quickly. He was hot on the tail of an enemy fighter and was not about to let this one get away by being distracted by a conversation.  
  
"Sir, picking up a jump point forming."  
  
"More good news," Meade said sarcastically until he saw the Dark Thunder exiting the jump point. As his fighter shook, taking another hit from an enemy fighter, he couldn't remember when he'd been quite as pleased to see that ship.  
  
***  
  
"Flash missiles locked onto detonation points," Griffon informed the Captain from the tactical station. It was a remarkably simple plan which often times proved to be the most effective.  
  
"Barns to all fighters, clear out." He turned to watch a sensor display which showed both their fighters and those attached to the Spectre retreating from the battle at top speed, one of the other Hel'Zhas with Giovoni's fighter in tow. "Commander," he said to Griffon, still glaring at the sensor display. "Fire."  
  
The Captain's soft, professional voice sent a massive spread of missiles from the Dark Thunder's four forward facing anti-fighter missile launchers. While the enemy fighters scrambled to avoid having the missiles hit them, they all found their marks at key points which had already been locked into the targetting systems. The detonations of the flash missiles sent energy shockwaves across space, enveloping the enemy fighters.  
  
Barns stood and examined the sensor display in greater detail at Griffon's station. He put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze, his subtle way of congratulating her for handling the ship well in his absence.  
  
"So what happened down there?" Griffon asked the Captain.  
  
Barns looked first at MacDonald then at Mara, seeming to stare at her. "That, Leslie, is the question of the hour."  
  
ENVOI  
  
EAS Dark Thunder  
  
Commanding Officer's Quarters  
  
January 24th, 2264 2024 EST  
  
Captain Jerry Barns was becoming more and more appreciative of the times when he was able to completely relax, times which grew more and more rare with each passing day. Still, sitting in his quarters in a respectable looking shirt and pair of trousers, sharing a light dinner on the couch with Lieutenant Commander Griffon, who was dressed in a red blouse and long black skirt, he could not help but feel at ease, even with the events of the past day still weighing on his mind.  
  
Griffon polished off the last of her meal, dabbed her lips with a napkin and set them both aside on the small coffee table in front of them. "Mmm..." she commented. "Thank you Captain."  
  
Barns smiled. "My pleasure Commander," he said as he filled her cup of coffee.  
  
"So," the tactical officer said as she sank back into the couch. "Are you going to tell me what's bothering you or am I going to have to drag it out of you?" While she never complained whenever the Captain made her dinner and coffee, she had come to realize that most of the time it indicated he needed to talk about something that was bothering him.  
  
As Barns took another sip of his own coffee, he realized that the young woman knew him far too well. That was, of course, to be expected. While he wished he could say that nothing was bothering and he just thought they might enjoy a dinner together, he had also learned that it was nearly impossible for him to lie to her. "I've been thinking about what happened down there. Something just doesn't seem right," the Captain observed. "Why would a rouge telepath go to Proxima 3 under the cover of being a merchant and then start killing people? Something is just ... not right about it."  
  
Griffon nodded. None of it seemed right to her either. There were too few explenations for everything. "I know what you mean," she sipped her coffee slowly. "Also of interest is how, if at all, that ship figures into things. I think it has to in some way."  
  
"What makes you say that?"  
  
"I reviewed the sensor logs from Giovoni's fighter, which the Chief estimates two weeks of repair on, seconds before that ship jumped out, a shuttle from Proxima 3 docked with it. I went back through our sensor logs and detected a shuttle launch right around the time MacDonald ordered Hawks to get those assault teams ready."  
  
"It all seems a little too convenient doesn't it?" The Captain posed the question in an effort to let the conversation rest for the time being and simply try to enjoy the rest of the night before another crisis sprung up the next day.  
  
"It does indeed," Griffon added as she turned to watch the ISN broadcast which was just starting.  
  
The screen faded in on the familar face of the ISN broadcaster. "Good evening and welcome to ISN," she began. "Only two hours ago, Earthforce and Psi Corps officials released a statement that a rouge telepath gone mad was responsible for several previously unexplained murders on the Proxima 3 colony. Psi Corps officials commented that the rouge, identified as thirty- one year old Mike Rollins, was previously an upstanding member of the Psi Cops special operations division. In light of this incident, Psi Corps officials are pushing the Senate..."  
  
***  
  
"...to grant them increased power and authority in dealing with the growing number renegade telepaths. This was recorded earlier today at a Psi Corps news conference."  
  
The screen switched to a recorded conference at the Psi Corps main compound in Geneva. A tall, gray-haired man stood prominently at a podium, the Psi Corps emblem strong and prominently displayed behind him. "As this incident proves, the Psi Corps needs increased power so as to be able to deal with these rouges. The threat from them grows greater every day and as such we must rise to deal with these new threats."  
  
"I am pleased with you Mara," as Officer Kirshak heard Bester speak up from the communication's monitor, she muted the ISN feed. "You did excellent work in uncovering this rogue. I am however disappointed that you failed to apprehend Lyta Alexander."  
  
"There was nothing that I could do," Mara said softly. She had been left with an uneasy feeling ever since her last encounter with Lyta. A feeling that was growing during her conversation with Bester.  
  
"I understand." Bester paused as if trying to come up with the words for what he would say next. "I trust you found nothing in his room of any interest?"  
  
Mara debated the question. She glanced down at her hand which still held the Psi Corps badge Lyta had tossed to her. The question, in her opinion, was not whether it was significant or not but rather what it could mean. "No," she gave a simple and slightly withdrawn answer.  
  
While Bester was able to sense that there was more there than she was willing to reveal, he decided not to press the issue. Whatever it was, it would either not matter in the grand scheme or, he0  
  
0. would learn of it in time. "Very well," he paused. "I will be expecting you to submit status reports to me on a regular basis. Until the next time we speak Officer Kirshak, good luck." The transmission ended.  
  
Mara, like most of the crew of the Dark Thunder, did not know what to make of the events of the last day. Unwilling to analyze and debate it with herself any further, she simply closed her eyes and listened to the ship speak as she drifted off to sleep.  
  
***  
  
Ranger Greg Giovoni's quarters were lit only by the light of dozens of candles dimly glowing. Ever since they had broke formation with the Spectre and gone their seperate ways three hours ago, he had been deep in meditation on the events of the day. Since no answers seemed to readily present themselves, he decided to seek them elsewhere. However, they were not to be found anywhere. At least, nowhere that he had searched.  
  
Standing, he logged onto the nearby computer console and brought up the image he was staring at earlier. He had gone through the sensor logs from every fighter involved in the battle and this was the clearest image he could find of one of the hostile fighters. While he still had no idea what they were, he considered it foolish to simply stop his investigating after the resources he had at his immediate disposal had been exhausted.  
  
"Computer," the Ranger said breaking his hours long silence. "Compress all records from the battle into a standard compression file, encryption algorythm G12 and prepare for high speed tachyon burst transmission."  
  
"Standing by," the computer replied.  
  
"Attach voice message," the Ranger ordered next. He waited a moment for the computer to activate it's message recording software. "From Anla'Shok Val'Na Greg Giovoni to High Coucilor William Westcastle ..."  
  
EAS Artemis  
  
Fringe of Earth Alliance Territory  
  
He had grown used to disappointment over the past few months. It had begun with the failed assault on Earth and continued through most of his crusade to bring Earth to it's proper place in the galaxy. While this ship was indeed nothing of a disappointment, the loss of eighteen of his prized fighters were. While they could be replaced easily, it was sitll a blow to him.  
  
His disappoitment for the most part rested with Mike Rollins however. The telepath had failed him miserably. He thought it unwise from the start to put his faith in a telepath, they always seemed to let him down. An even larger disappointment was that Bester had managed to play the events perfectly to work in his favor. Perhaps he had been playing them all from the beginning.  
  
Regardless of the disappoitments, there was still work to be done. Much work indeed. He remained silent as the Artemis flew to it's next destination. Continuing the mission, continuing the hunt.  
  
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER  
  
Gary Boshears  
  
***  
  
Coming Soon:  
  
Episode 2 of The EAS Dark Thunder: FORGOTTEN MEMORIES  
  
As Captain Barns squares off against a vengeful Narn Warmaster, we learn that old hatreds die hard and that painful memories are often the easiest and the most difficult to forget. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Connell makes what he believes to be an amazing discovery in hyperspace. Is it an illusion or a sign of a coming darkness?  
  
Featuring special guest star Malcolm McDowell. 


End file.
